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Girls and Block Play
January 30, 2012
The experiences of childhood directly, consciously or unconsciously, affect our parenting styles, the character of our children, and the direction of societies.
-Michael Lerner from Parenting and Its Distortions
This advice comes from Barb Tokarz, writing in "Block Play: It's Not Just for Boys Anymore," which serves as the base for the Exchange Out of the Box Training Kit by the same name. In the article she offers a number of ways to include children in block play including these:
"Locate the block corner next to dramatic play. Children who are going shopping, to school, or to the doctors may come into the block center to build a car to travel in, or to build a structure that becomes the store or school. Allow children to borrow materials from dramatic play to bring into the block corner to support and enrich their play. Choose a time when the block center is not crowded and invite some girls to come in and play with you. Sit on the floor with them and begin building, asking open-ended questions, and supporting them in problem solving if the need arises."
Save 40% for 48 hours Only!
(Sale ends 11:59 PST 11/08/2012)
Run a professional development training session with Exchange's popular Out-of-the-Box Training Kits. An article from Exchange magazine serves as the foundation for each Kit and is included as a handout.
Each Kit includes step-by-step instructions to prepare, conduct, and evaluate your training session. The Kits are also flexible enough to allow you to include your own ideas and exercises to meet any special needs of your staff. And, for 48 hours only, online Kits are on sale at a 40% discount. The 75+ Out of the Box Kits provide training opportunities in the following areas:
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Large 15 Gal Commercial Container. Hands-Free “Step & Drop” Disposal. Clean Hygienic Enclosed System. Preferred by University Child Care.
Nat's Day Care
Philadelphia, PA, United States
01/30/2012 10:24 am
I have this to be just the opposite at my facility. The girls make all kinds of structures, which include transportation, animals and people. The boys tend to play only with the blocks, building structures.
New England Symposium on Play
Wakefield, Rhode Island, United States
01/30/2012 05:01 am
In all of the Child Care Programs I was honored to work in and support I always made sure there there were at least 10 to 12 different types of blocks available to the children. I think the diversity of blocks was another component to providing opportunities for both Girls and Boys to explore, create, build and share their creations and thoughts.
On another note! I was in NYC at the Logo Store and I did see a number of boys AND girls diving into the individual bins and selecting a plethora of legos(colors, shapes and sizes!)