BLOCK PROMPT - WHY BLOCK PLAY IS IMPORTANT AND HOW TO PROMOTE IT

Listing the reasons why block play is so important in early childhood along with teaching ideas and resources for promoting and extending block play in your classroom.

There are many reasons why I love block play both at home and in a classroom. It provides practical opportunities for reasoning and problem solving both co-operatively or individually. Building with blocks develops hand-eye co-ordination, manipulative and fine motor skills while children learn to balance objects and experiment with space. It encourages dramatic/imaginative play which brings with it language development and self-control through co-operative play. Block play is also loaded with early Math concepts – helping children recognise and discriminate between sizes, shapes and numbers. And one of the best bits, building with blocks provides a justifiable means for destructive play.

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SENSORY WAY (HER WAY)

Today's invitation was mostly for my youngest child.  Unlike my first child, who would happily cover herself in paint, my last has never enjoyed getting her hands dirty.  She prefers painting with brushes than with her fingers and has never been one to sit in the sandpit but will tolerate it in a tray.  Sometimes her sisters will get her there but she won't seek these things out like the others had.

On the weekend, I'd (half) cleaned out the pantry and found a bag of semolina past its use by date. It's still cold here although the sun is beginning to shine again thankfully.  Our seed tray outside is still getting plenty of use but it's nice to have something inside to play with so today I put the old semolina into a tub and handed it over to my 4yr old thinking she might like its fine, dry, silky texture.  Turns out she did and the rest is her story today.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY - IDEAS FOR TEACHING AUSTRALIAN MONEY IN THE EARLY YEARS

Plenty of engaging lesson ideas and printable resources ready to use in your classroom when teaching Australian money next.

There are some maths concepts that can be difficult for young children to grasp. 

In my experience as a classroom teacher, time and money are two such areas that can take children a long time to 'get'. 

The solution? Find as many inventive ways to introduce, re-introduce, repeat and practice the ideas in class to help support your students understanding. 

Here you'll find a series of lesson ideas and printables ready for teaching Australian money. Whilst you'll see Australian money being used in these lessons, they can easily be transferred to any currency like US dollars and cents or British pounds and pence.

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