This pass Monday I observe the children playing in different areas. Outside the children played with the bicycles and on the climber. It was actually the first time i saw that the children were not interested in sand play.
Indoors, I observed children playing in the block area, doing play dough, dramatic play, and tracing different shapes on the table. The activity that I enjoy observing the most was the block area. The teacher had set up a structure build out of block. She had put different block to make a stair way and many more. She also included people toys. As she dismiss the children to go play she let them know that she had started to build a hospital and that who wanted to continue to play their. Two children seemed very interested in the block area. As they play they build the parking lot and park cars. They also put clear tubes on the side and said that they were the elevators.The children pretended to be Dr, nurses and the ill person.
The children use their imagination along with their fine motor still. They also use math when counting blocks measuring the sizes of the blocks and matching the blocks.
To further the children learning the next day I would bring in a book of Doctors. A book that describe what a doctor is and what does he/ she do. I also would bring in Doctor materials like bandages, play injection band-aids and stethoscope. i would set up and area like a Dr. office with all the materials adding clipboards, magazine and pencils. Then i would allow the children to play and develop their imaginations pretending to be a doctor or going to the hospital.
During this block play activity the children also used developmental skills such as communication, cognitive and role play skills through dramatic play.
ReplyDeleteI hope the teacher gave the children other options and was not forced to play in the block area. The teacher could have allowed the children to be creative using their own ideas instead of telling them what the blocks were meant to be in her eyes.
I agree with Dwan, it would have been nice to see what the children came up with on their own, although they used their imaginations to come up with everything in a structure. If I were the teacher I would actually try and bring a doctor in to show the kids how some of these tools work if not a nurse that can explain and model maybe on a doll. It would be very educational.
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