A couple of weeks ago, I introduced the Citiblocks into the toddler classroom. These blocks are small, wooden, thin, rectangular pieces that are all the same size. I placed a cloth box full of these blocks in the center of the rug one morning, wondering how the toddlers might explore them.
J immediately noticed the box of blocks, took just two blocks out of the box and placed them together, one block stacked on top, perpendicular to the other one. Immediately J exclaimed “Airplane!” holding the blocks together and moving his object through the air.
Later in the day, T and J explored the blocks together,
creating what they called “A house.” They added more and more
blocks to the structure while talking about who lived in this house.
T also worked with the Citiblocks on her own, lining the blocks up in a specific way and adjusting blocks to exactly where she wanted them to be.
Then J took notice of T's work and he began to explore the blocks in a different way:
The blocks became something different, a road or a path, something for his feet to explore instead of his hands.
At the end of the day, we cleaned up the blocks together, creating a familiar, orderly environment, ready for more exploration the next day.
By presenting the Citiblocks in the toddler room in an open-ended way, J and T were able to explore them freely with no limits to what they could do with them. They were building fine-motor skills, developing language around the usage of the blocks, developing spacial skills, and strengthening their social skills by working together creating a common object with the blocks.
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