Setting Up Your Block Center

Today I will be taking a break from the 30 day challenge inviting learning, to join
​PreK Partner for a Blog Hop series on learning centers.
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Todays blog hop will be on setting up the block center and the importance of the block play in early childhood education.
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The building center in my classroom is by fare one of the busiest learning centers in my classroom.
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Children love blocks because they can be found in all different shapes, sizes, colors, and textures.  Children can use blocks to support their dramatic play, to build and create structures that they can then use with toys.

​So, why is the block center so important?
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Block play enhances children’s development across several different domains.

• Physical development
• Cognitive skills
• Language development
• Social and emotional skills

When I play with blocks I learn...

• I actively and intentionally cooperate with other peers.
• I learn to negotiate with others.
• I build my motor development
• I learn about visual perception
• I learn about spatial orientation
• I build my fine motor coordination
• I learn math vocabulary like...(big, bigger, biggest) (Tall, taller, tallest) (long, longer, longest)
• I learn about size through the natural process of building.
• I learn about shapes and how putting shapes together can form new shapes.
• I learn to create and repeat patterns.
• I learn to solve problems.

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I like to have three different types of blocks out in the center.

• ​Wooden Unit Blocks
• Soft Builders
• Architectural Unit Blocks​

Enhance the play experience in the block area by adding accessories.  Accessories will expand the play by adding a different dimension to the play.

• Cars, Trains, Planes, and Boats
• ​Roads​
• Plastic Animals
• ​People
• ​Doll House Furniture
• Pretend Tools
• Dress Up Clothes and Hats

Loose parts play a big role in my classroom and the block center is a great place to add loose parts.  

• ​Sticks
• Drift Wood
• Wooden Rounds
• Stones
• Logs
• Rain Gutters
• Fabric
• Packing Tubes
• Packing Corner

What Teachers Should Know about Block Play ​

Children go through four different stages of block play. 

• Stage 1 – Carrying blocks
• Stage 2 – Piling blocks and making roads
• Stage 3 – Connecting blocks to create structures (bridging, making enclosures, designs)
• Stage 4 – Making elaborate constructions

When we understand the stages we can then have reasonable expectations of how children play with the blocks.  
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Our role as the teacher is to thoughtfully listen to children as they are playing, to determine where their interest lie. This will help us to provide materials and props that will extend the play and build on their prior knowledge.  

A 360 degree look at my block center.