The Silver Room friends love to build! Since the beginning of the year, we’ve noticed that building is a strong shared interest, and we’ve been amazed by all the imaginative, complex construction happening. Some of our favorite building materials are magnetic tiles and cubes, Legos, and wooden blocks. Recently, we’ve introduced Tegu blocks, Wedgit pyramid blocks, Plus Plus blocks, and small wooden shapes as new building elements.

It is amazing to see the children sharing materials, taking turns adding pieces, and making space for each other’s ideas! Of course, it’s typical at this age to navigate conflicts during play, and building together naturally lends itself to practicing flexibility and compromise.

Through building, students are developing many skills:

– problem-solving

– language and communication

– spatial reasoning

– creativity

– fine motor skills

– focus and patience

– early math concepts (size, shape, quantity)

Here we are building Magna-tile masterpieces. What these photos don’t show are the many toppled towers that had to be picked up, redesigned, and built again. Sometimes with frustration, anger, or laughter, and sometimes with just a strong desire to try again. The magic is in the process!

Tegu blocks are wooden magnetic blocks that come in varying shapes and lengths. In addition to building creatively, they can be used to build letters and shapes that have straight lines.

We love our large wooden blocks on the roof. We use them to make flat and 3D structures, and sometimes carry them around in the wheelbarrow.

In addition to typical Lego pieces, we have flowers and trains, and our Silver Room friends have found many ways to build with these pieces!

Sometimes in the gym we work with blue blocks. Our favorite game is Surfing, where we build our own surfboards and take them to the beach (the blue mat). Then we listen to surf music and dance!

Plus Plus Builders support children’s fine motor skills as they promote finger dexterity and grip. The large size is well-suited to this age group; the pieces are both challenging and engaging for small hands.

Wedgits are excellent for geometric exploration, and are satisfying to build with as they stack, nest, and interlock in multiple ways. The children have also loved collecting them in baskets and carrying them around the room, sometimes using them as food in the kitchen.

Young children are often focused on building upward – “let’s make it taller!” This is typical (and an important skill!), and we’re also excited to explore other ways of building and connecting materials – what happens if we don’t go straight up? How else can we create structures? How else can we describe them (wide, long, high, low)? We can’t wait to see where their building takes them in the new year!