How to build a castle...

I am so glad I have developed our new construction area in the classroom. We used to have one before but it was too small and it was shared with the reading corner, the circle time area and the science corner. Too much happening at the same place, too many kids wanting to use the mat at the same time. Less room for creativity and imagination.  I read so much this summer and I came to firmly believe that I couldn't offer my children the learning experiences they needed without having a block corner. Blocks are the epitome of open-ended materials and they are a must if I want to allow children to express their creativity. When they design and build, they are learning, discovering, growing and developing skills essential to their understanding of the world around them. When a child plays with a block, he must think creatively, learn to solve problems, negotiate and invent. Building a tower or a bridge teaches them about balance, stability. They will also learn about symmetry. They make mistakes and learn at the same time. And hey, why don't you add mirror and see how suddenly, you have added a dimension of height and perspective to their learning too.

 

I was sitting on the mat with a group of children yesterday and asked them if I could look at them and if they could teach me how to build something with the wooden blocks. I sat very silently at the beginning and the children went on explaining to me what they were doing as they went on with their work. It was quite interesting. Look at this:
 

 

Using blue fabric to create water under the castle

Adding a bridge over the water, using brown felt for the animals in the field, and green felt for the forest!

And here is a field of hay

The children taught it would be easier for the people living in the castle to use stairs

Pink fabric = field of pink flowers

Adding a slide for the animals

a fence for the farm animals

Here are some animals under the second castle the children built.

 

 

 

Mind blowing!!!