You want to provide the best early childhood experience for children and their parents. But you don’t have easy access to high-quality training. We provide you with relevant, research-based, and Biblically-sound training and on-demand courses so that you and your staff can confidently care for and teach young children.
7 Stages of Block Play
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Hey Reader! Have you ever watched a child carry blocks around the classroom and wondered, "Aren’t blocks for building? What is going on here?" Well…block play develops in stages, and every stage is an important part of learning (even the “carrying around” stage)! Knowing what to expect can help us provide the right materials, encouragement, and time for children to grow as builders. 1. Discover, Explore & Carry Children carry, touch, stack, and investigate blocks – sometime even with their mouths! They are learning about weight, shape, texture, and what blocks can do. 2. Stack & Make Rows Towers and simple rows begin to appear. Children are discovering balance, gravity, and cause and effect. 3. Bridge & Repeat Children begin experimenting with bridges—placing two blocks apart and connecting them with another block. Problem-solving starts to take center stage. 4. Enclose Children use several blocks to surround a space. They are beginning to understand inside, outside, boundaries, and space. 5. Create Patterns Patterns, symmetry, and balanced designs emerge. Children are discovering that they can create order and beauty with their structures. 6. Name & Pretend Suddenly, those blocks become something! A tower is a house. A few blocks become a bridge. Block play begins connecting with storytelling and dramatic play. 7. Represent the Real World Children build structures that represent familiar places and experiences. They may create a restaurant, fire station, school, or home—and invite friends to join their play. The Big TakeawayDon't be too quick to decide that a child is "just stacking blocks." They're building more than structures—they're building brains! As children move through these stages, they're developing spatial awareness, problem-solving, creativity, language, fine-motor skills, and social skills. So give them time, space, plenty of blocks, and permission to build, knock down, try again, and imagine. You might be surprised by what they construct! Check out our printable – Tips for the Block Center – for more fun facts, activity ideas, and even a list of how many blocks you should keep in your block center based on age! Cheering you on this week! -Your ECCN team
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Early Childhood Christian Network
You want to provide the best early childhood experience for children and their parents. But you don’t have easy access to high-quality training. We provide you with relevant, research-based, and Biblically-sound training and on-demand courses so that you and your staff can confidently care for and teach young children.
Hey Reader! You know the moment. You look at the clock and realize you have 5 or 10 more minutes until the next part of your schedule. The children are getting restless. You’re tired. And whatever you had planned is already finished (or maybe the lesson just fell a little flatter than you’d hoped)! What do you do? Instead of scrambling for something new, keep a few no-prep or almost-no-prep activities in your back pocket (or a list on your clipboard). These aren't meant to replace your...
Hey Reader! “You need to clean up. Now. Because I said so.” Sometimes that is exactly what we want to say, isn’t it? And sometimes, that simple command turns a small transition into a full-blown power struggle. Young children spend much of their day having decisions made for them. What they wear, when and what they eat, where they go, when they clean up, what activity comes next, and where they sit are often adult decisions. So it can be powerful (and SO helpful to your own sanity) to give...
Hey Reader! Remember that sweet little child who quietly watched everything during the first few weeks of school? She’s talking. A LOT. And the little boy who carefully followed every direction in September? He has discovered that making his friends laugh is really fun. The child who seemed easygoing? Suddenly has an opinion about everything and seems to be digging in his heels more often! Welcome to October! As children become comfortable with their teachers, friends, and routines, we often...