Construction Center

 

One thing that I tried this year was to rearrange the construction center so that students had an area to leave their creations up for a day or two.  What I found was that I picked a spot that became a  walkway and most creations got damaged throughout the day.  The area had

all my wooden blocks but all the other blocks were stored in other areas in the room.

 

I was reading for my class when I realized that I needed to change it again to make it more usable for the students.  I removed everything from some shelves at the front of the class and one afternoon we moved and arranged the blocks.  Six kids spent their whole play time setting it all up.  I added all blocks to this area - wooden, coloured, soft, cardboard, and assorted items like styrofoam and pringle cans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The area was extremely busy for a few days but has now settled into a few students every day.  The area is bordered by a cupboard, a table and the carpet area.  The students have been very careful if they have to walk through the construction zone. They seem to really like the organization and put the blocks away neatly every time they play there.

 

My goal for construction center was to allow students the option of taking the time to build and then play.  Often they have time to build but must then put it all away before playing. 

 

So far I have seen some creations played with but not by the original builder.  I'm wondering if that will change over time.

 

This is the book that I was reading.  It's the main text for my class on Play.  It's quite good and an easier read than most textbooks.

Van Hoorn, Judith. et all., Play at the Center of the Curriculum. Pearson. 2011