Start A Home Daycare

Hi,

I’ve just been reading a great article about encouraging constructive play.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Children are instinctively creative builders. They enjoy using all sorts of manipulatives — toilet paper rolls, building blocks or pieces of cardboard — to construct towers, homes or even fiery dragons! Providing children with the opportunity to play with manipulatives in a safe, stimulating environment is crucial to their healthy development. Manipulatives enhance fine motor development by requiring the controlled use of hand and finger muscles; they also help develop important eye-hand coordination. As children experiment with building, they learn about important concepts such as gravity, stability and patterning. The following suggestions will help enhance the constructive play of the children in your care.

Free Play and Directed Play

Opportunities for free play should be encouraged at any level of development. Children must be allowed to daydream, walk around, observe others and ask questions. Directed play involves providing opportunities for children to engage in creative activities. Stories and picture books can be used as “building starters” to help inspire the children. Mud Puddle, a Robert Munsch classic, is a favourite. What child cannot relate to mud puddles? After reading the story aloud, ask the children to build things that will keep them dry, such as raincoats out of colourful crepe paper; umbrellas out of popsicle sticks and cardboard; and protective shields of aluminum pie plates and string. For more directed activities, use these building starters and establish additional criteria that the children must meet.”

You can read the whole thing here: Constructive Play

Talk soon,
Mary Nightingale

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