MATH IN BLOCKS

Finding the Math in...

BLOCKS Block play offers children

many opportunities for exploring and learning about mathematical concepts— especially those related to geometry and spatial sense. Teachers can support children’s mathematical development by  including a large block area in the classroom environment,  planning activities that draw children into the block area,  “mathematizing” adult comments and questions to draw out the math during block building,  observing and documenting children’s knowledge of math concepts, and  sharing with families block play ideas that promote mathematical thinking.

During block play, children learn important mathematical concepts. Geometry & Spatial Sense: In playing with and manipulating blocks, children can learn about  shape names,  attributes of shapes,  spatial concepts, such as location/position (e.g., in, on, under, behind, in front of), and  how shapes can fit together and be taken apart. Blocks provide opportunities for children to practice reasoning and solving problems using geometry (e.g., how to build a tall structure so that it does not topple over).

Patterns: Block play offers many opportunities for children to  recognize and create patterns using different shapes and  explore the concept of symmetry. Measurement: During block play, children recognize, explore, and learn about different physical attributes of objects such as the following:  Size  Area  Length  Volume  Height  Weight

Number & Operations: Block play lets children learn to  develop number concepts,  count and compare quantities, and  add and subtract as they combine and separate objects and blocks.

National Head Start Family Literacy Center, Sonoma State University

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ENVIRONMENT

Block

ENVIRONMENTS Block environments (indoor and outdoor) should include a variety of materials that offer children many building opportunities.

Ideas  A large section of the classroom should be set up away from traffic so that a number of children can build at the same time.  If needed, pool several smaller block collections into a large rotating collection that can be shared among several classrooms. Include a wide range of sizes and shapes of blocks.  Encourage both girls and boys to build in the block area.  Hang photographs of buildings, bridges, and other structures to stimulate block building and exploration of spatial relationships.  Put out clipboards, paper, and pencils, and encourage children to draw pictures of the structures they build.  Take and post photographs of children with their block structures.  Include books in the block area that stimulate block building ideas.  Introduce other building materials such as plastic tubing, and pulleys and string to encourage other ways to explore putting materials together and taking them apart.  Provide children with table areas in the classroom and outdoors to explore small-scale blocks such as Legos®, Colorframes®, or cube blocks.

 Label shelves and containers with silhouettes of block shapes to give children an opportunity to practice classification of shapes, sizes, and other block attributes.

National Head Start Family Literacy Center, Sonoma State University

 Include a variety of types of blocks, construction materials, vehicles, and characters (animals and people) to encourage pretend play. 2

EXPERIENCES

Block

EXPERIENCES Manipulating and building with blocks offer children opportunities to explore mathematical ideas through a variety of visual, kinesthetic, and auditory learning approaches. Teachers can encourage children to engage in frequent block play, introduce different materials, and plan activities that highlight specific mathematical concepts.

Ideas  Hang non-breakable mirrors or put out pieces of Mylar to encourage children to view their block structures from different perspectives.  Encourage children to explore spatial relationships by creating landscapes with houses, parking lots, and street signs of different shapes. Children can identify landmarks and give directions on how to go from one place to another.  Leave an ample amount of clean-up time to provide experiences with sorting, grouping, classifying, and matching shapes.

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Suggest children build the “longest” road or a tower that is “as tall as you are” to explore length, height, and measurement. Invite them to compare sizes and dimensions and explore what happens when blocks are added or taken away.

 Encourage children to explore mathematical 

Suggest story themes using miniature people, animals, and vehicles in children’s block play (e.g., build a bridge to cross the river to go to grandma’s house). Children can build enclosures for animals, assign vehicles for people to go places, and make inventories of numbers and types of props. National Head Start Family Literacy Center, Sonoma State University

concepts from children’s books. For example, after reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff, children can use large blocks to build a bridge to cross over. Or, after reading The Three Little Pigs, children can try to build houses that are sturdy enough to withstand being blown down. 3

MATH TALK

Block

MATH TALK

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Adults have a unique opportunity to highlight mathematical learning during block play. Through conversations with children, adults can  encourage problem solving,  discuss spatial relationships,  encourage children to manipulate shapes,  highlight number concepts, and  introduce math vocabulary words.

Encourage children to count and compare quantities by asking questions related to their play. “Which wall has more blocks?” “How can we find out?” “Do we have enough seats for all passengers?”

Ideas  Use vocabulary that describes spatial position and direction, such as inside, outside, on, under, before, after, between, behind, in front of, next to, above, below, right, left, and center.  Point out problem-solving opportunities. “It doesn’t fit. What should we do?" Or “How did you figure that out?”  Encourage children to manipulate the shapes into different configurations. “How many different shapes can you make with those blocks?” Or “Try turning or flipping it and let’s see what happens.”  Build on children’s play to introduce simple addition and subtraction problems. “How many blocks do you need to make it the same size?”

 Use mathematical words when describing threedimensional (3-D) shapes and their attributes. “That block looks like a brick. I call it a rectangular prism. The flat sides are called faces.”

Three-Dimensional Shapes

Cube

Sphere

Cylinder

Rectangular Prism

National Head Start Family Literacy Center, Sonoma State University

 As children manipulate and play with objects, help children think about how shapes fit together. “What shape block do you need for your structure?” 4

OBSERVATION

OBSERVING

Take notes on what children do during block play that demonstrates mathematical knowledge and skills such as the following:

Block Play Through observing children in block play, adults can identify what children know, as well as concepts that they have yet to learn. Observation provides adults a valuable opportunity to learn about children’s interest in spatial and geometric concepts. While observing and interacting with children in the block area, teachers can take notes of what children do and say and collect samples of children’s work. Observation information can be used to assess children’s mathematical development, plan math curriculum, and individualize math activities to meet each child’s unique interests and needs.

Block play provides a rich opportunity to observe children’s mathematical learning.

National Head Start Family Literacy Center, Sonoma State University

 Ability to manipulate and balance blocks  Ability to combine shapes to create new shapes (e.g., two cubes make a rectangular prism)

 Understanding of position words (e.g., in, on, under, over, behind, in front of)  Knowledge of shape names and their attributes (e.g., sphere, cube, curved, straight)  Ability to classify (e.g., sort blocks and toys by size, shape, thickness, color)  Ability to recognize and create patterns (e.g., place blocks in a repeating sequence, such as cube–cylinder–cube–cylinder)  Understanding and using measurement words (e.g., bigger, smaller, longer, shorter)  Knowledge of counting and comparing quantity (e.g., more vs. less)  Building increasingly complex block structures (e.g., stacking a tower, making an enclosure, creating a representation of a building such as a house) 5

FAMILY FUN

Block

FAMILY FUN Family members play a

special role in helping children learn about math. As families talk, play, and carry out routines throughout the day, children are learning. The Family Fun page provides staff ideas for working with families to help their children learn math by playing with blocks and other construction materials.

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Talk to family members about how children develop a knowledge of shapes and spatial sense (e.g., in, on, under, next to, inside, outside) from playing with blocks.

Hold a Math in Blocks Family Fun Night

Home Block Ideas to Share with Families

Invite families to an evening of block building and learning with their children. Hold the event in an early childhood classroom that is well stocked with unit blocks, table blocks, and other construction materials.

Share these Math in Blocks ideas with families during home visits and family conferences, in newsletters and handouts, on bulletin boards, and on your agency’s website. Be sure to add your own ideas, too.

 Let families freely explore the different types of blocks with their children.  Post photographs or show a slide show of their children engaged in block play.  Share and demonstrate the different types of math learning that happens when children play with blocks. (See page 1of this handout for ideas.)  Let families make a few homemade blocks by covering small boxes or milk cartons with contact paper. Encourage them to use the homemade blocks at home with their children.  Lead a short game centered on mathematical names of different types and parts of blocks (e.g., a rectangular unit block is called a “rectangular prism”). Point out to family members that they may hear their children using these names, which they learned at school.  Demonstrate how adults can talk about block shapes using words like face, corner, side, curved, and straight to describe shapes.

National Head Start Family Literacy Center, Sonoma State University

 Provide boxes for  Provide boxes children to climb for children to into and out of. climb into and out This encourages of. This encourages exploration of exploration of space that is space that is used used in block in block building. building.

 Encourage toddlers to stack large items such as cardboard boxes.  Ask cabinetmakers for their leftover wood scraps for homemade blocks. Have your child help you sand them smooth.  Play a “Copycat” game. Divide your blocks evenly into two piles. Start by building with two blocks, and have your child build a structure just like yours. Continue adding one block at a time. After a few rounds, start over and let your child be the leader.  Take photographs of your children next to their block creations. Display them in your home and share them with relatives and teachers. 6