Block play and building is powerful learning tools that helps children develop motor skills, hand eye coordination, spatial skills, a capacity for creativity, divergent thinking, social and language skills. Complex block play is linked to advanced math skills later in life, before formal math instruction.
The benefits of block building on fostering and strengthening executive functioning and math skills are well established. “Spatial thinking, or mentally manipulating information about the structure of the shapes and spaces in one’s environment, may be crucial for developing skills that support later science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning." In a study published in Child Development -- May 2015, lower SES preschoolers were already lagging behind their higher SES children in block assembly.
Supporting the development of block play in a classroom community is important and often overlooked and underutilized. Block play helps develop the child in many different areas, in essence educating the whole child.
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Block play and building is powerful learning tools that helps children develop motor skills, hand eye coordination, spatial skills, a capacity for creativity, divergent thinking, social and language skills. Complex block play is linked to advanced math skills later in life, before formal math instruction.
The benefits of block building on fostering and strengthening executive functioning and math skills are well established. “Spatial thinking, or mentally manipulating information about the structure of the shapes and spaces in one’s environment, may be crucial for developing skills that support later science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning." In a study published in Child Development -- May 2015, lower SES preschoolers were already lagging behind their higher SES children in block assembly.
Supporting the development of block play in a classroom community is important and often overlooked and underutilized. Block play helps develop the child in many different areas, in essence educating the whole child.
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