Wooden blocks are one of the most popular materials during choice time! This activity is best suited for the middle of the school year, when children need fresh ideas and a new perspective on familiar materials. It heightens the children’s awareness of shapes, numbers, and spatial relationships. It also helps them experience that less can be more, and building a structure does not always need to involve all the blocks on the shelf.
Materials:
- Blocks
- 2 empty boxes (about the size of tissue boxes)
- Index cards
- Small shopping baskets (or other containers)
- Small rug (about the size of a bath mat) as a personal space marker
Instructions:
- Pick number: Pick a card from box marked “numbers”, for example, “4”.
- Pick block: Pick a card from the box marked “blocks”, for example, “triangle.”
Pick a card – No peeking!
- Shop: Get a shopping basket, put the cards in the basket for reference, go to the block shelf, and pick up “4 triangle” blocks.
Block shopping
- Put on rug: Carry 4 triangle blocks over to your rug. Take the blocks and cards out of the basket and lay them on the rug.
- Repeat the above steps 3 times, until you have 3 sets of blocks.
Lay the blocks and the cards on the rug.
- Put the cards away: Make sure the number cards are back in the number box, and the block cards are back in the block box.
- Build with the blocks on your rug.
Build with the blocks.
- Put your blocks away.
Here’s a video we created about the block shopping process. It helps preschoolers, especially those who are English language learners, understand the procedure.
While children are building and/or after they are done, discuss their building structure using math language about shapes, numbers, and spatial relationships, for example: “What are your plans with the 3 squares?” “I see that you are putting rectangles in front of the semi-circles.” “How many triangles are you putting on the top?”
Modifications:
Ask children to draw their block structure when they are done. Drawing a block structure is quite complex, and the challenge helps children think aloud and articulate what they created. Help children annotate their drawing, and post the drawings on a bulletin board or in a binder labeled “block building inspirations”.