Spontaneous Tower

A moment of zen:  using some loose materials (including our hand-painted blocks) to create a small tower.

interlocking planks + independence

These interlocking planks are in another part of the building that I work in.  I can't help but wonder if children saw a pile of them with no prompt except the planks (not made into a house) would they make them into a house?  How much adult support would children need with a material like this?  How much "coaching" to make the pieces fit together?

I miss the hollow blocks.

An interest in construction

Some work in the classroom is inspiring everyone to build a certain tower over and over again:

Since the first day of school, when M made this building, he and others have been making this daily.  There are some designs that stray a bit from the first simple one, and it has been explored with table top blocks.    But the excitement about this structure has touched everyone.

There are pictures of the many many times this construction has been repeated for inspiration, including the original, exact copies, and new ideas.

This week, we got together and had everyone make the tower.  Then, we sat down and drew the results.  Their interpretations on paper are each so different and unique - but everyone has an idea about those parallel and perpendicular lines.

Some children even included the idea of people in the construction, perhaps the builders or just people nearby.

We are thinking about how to deepen their thinking about this tower and expand their ideas.  Part of this goes hand in hand with what I was thinking about the room last week.  I had a few ideas about how to make more room for construction, and how to mix the ideas together.  To support this exploration, I'd like to have the overhead projector near the construction materials, and to mix dramatic play materials into the whole classroom, allowing children to use a variety of materials wherever they choose.

I'm excited about the prospect of exploring this idea with the children in the coming weeks.

Blocks

"A far away lonely kingdom"

Contemplating

Bon week-end à tous!

Recycled Construction

There was no glue or tape today - just boxes of materials. Everyone participated. And I'm beginning to see the incredible value of temporary constructions.

Il n'y avait pas de la colle ni du scotch aujourd'hui - juste des boîtes de choses. Tout le monde a participé. Et maintenant, je comprend la valeur des compositions temporaires.

house of cards

I spread some cards out on a table one morning, and this is what happened. For one boy in particular, it was a lesson in perseverence! That's not easy stuff!