Blocks as an essential material in early childhood classrooms have made a comeback. Or, so it would appear from the November 28th article in the NY Times. This is not a new phenomenon but comes from a long tradition dating back to the mid-19thc. with Friedrich Froebel’s Kindergarten Gifts and evolving in the early 20th century with Carolyn Pratt’s unit blocks.
This tradition stresses the basic role of play as the prime learning mode for young children - including play with open-ended materials such as blocks. Unfortunately, in response to” high stakes testing,” many early childhood programs have shortened or in some places even eliminated time for play. The schools cited in the NY Times article are more the exception than the rule, despite all the studies that show that through play with open-ended materials such as blocks, children acquire and enrich their physical knowledge, math concepts, language, creative thinking and social skills.
For more insights and images on block play read The Ode to Blocks from Beyond the Classroom.
