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Constructing | Day 9 – 30DaysTYP

April 9, 2014 By Racheous

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Welcome to day 9 in the 30 Days to Transform Your Play series. Today we are discussing construction and its ability to make learning visible.

I have wrote about construction previously.

Constructing and engineering with various manipulatives opens up the world to a child and enables them to create visual representations of their learning, ideas and understanding of the world around them and their interests.

Some questions to reflect upon:

  • What kind of constructing is your child drawn to at the moment? Are they 3D or 2D (blueprints)?
  • Does your child have the space and opportunity to build upon previous constructions?
  • Does your child sketch, record and/or take photographs of their creations?
  • Do you display construction materials in an inviting way? Is there anyway you can improve on your current system?
  • Do you allow for uninterrupted time to construct and a space for the construction to be left to build upon later?

Constructing helps children construct meaning. – Rachel [Racheous – Lovable Learning]*

constructing visible learning

Construction doesn’t have to just involve blocks, however, they’re an awesome material to manipulate and build representations. I wrote about the benefits of block play here and love watching children tinker with blocks as they’re so versatile and open-ended.

However, remember to make several different types of constructive materials available for your child to create with:

  • Blocks (wooden building blocks, tree blocks, mirror blocks, colour blocks, magnetic blocks, etc)
  • Lego/Duplo
  • Tinkering toys (think magnetix, k’nex, meccano, etc)
  • Snap circuits
  • Construction with recyclables
  • Creating simple machines
  • Building forts and cubby houses
  • Wire forms
  • Creating with clay/plasticine/playdough
  • Woodwork
  • Just to name a few…

Task:

  • Create an invitation to construct. Include media that reflects their interests (a provoking photo, book, previous work, artwork, sculpture, or a combination) but try not to influence their creativity too much.
  • Over the coming days, watch your child constructing and take note of the types of construction they are involved in.
  • Discuss ways they might like to expand on their creations, including which materials they might need.
  • Encourage them to sketch, record and/or take photos of their constructions.
  • Allow the construction/s to be left out and built upon.

Share your invitation to construct on Instagram with the hashtag #30daystyp and/or on my Facebook Page.

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Here is the rest of the 30 Days to Transform Your Play series!

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Default ThumbnailPretend Play | Day 28 – 30DaysTYP How to cultivate a family culture of inspired learners What Is Respectful Parenting?

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