{"id":6625,"date":"2021-10-06T16:51:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T15:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/?page_id=120"},"modified":"2026-03-25T09:54:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T09:54:38","slug":"block-play","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/block-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Block Play"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/big><\/h1>\n

Block Play<\/span><\/h1>\n

Resources<\/strong> \uf0ad<\/span> <\/cite><\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/cite><\/span><\/p>\n

What is it?<\/h3>\n

Block play refers to<\/span><\/span> free-standing, wooden blocks<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Blocks are a wonderfully open-ended resource, providing children with\u00a0opportunities to be creative, solve problems and develop a wide range of cross-curricular concepts.\u00a0 One of the reasons for children’s ongoing fascination with block play is that it is a form of play that is immensely versatile, open-ended and offers many inherent benefits (see bottom of the page).<\/p>\n

The origins of block play<\/strong> lie in the simple wooden blocks introduced by Friedrich Froebel (1782 \u2013 1852) who recognised a child’s impulse for self-activity and taking things apart and re-forming them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are 7 Stages of Block Play (see below), and practitioners should have knowledge of these stages so they can accurately identify them in the children’s play<\/a> and effectively extend learning.<\/p>\n

As it states in Realising the Ambition<\/a>, Education Scotland, 2020:<\/p>\n

“Materials should be open ended to develop children’s creativity.\u00a0 A simple reorganisation of the resources available might be all that is needed to raise the children’s curiosity<\/cite>.” (p 50)<\/p>\n

“Open-ended experiences and materials allow more exploration.\u00a0 They often lead to deeper and more creative learning as the child is empowered by the fact they cannot respond in a “wrong” way<\/cite>.” (p 65)<\/p>\n

“Provide both open-ended and structured materials which can support and challenge my learning in literacy, numeracy and mathematical thinking, and other curricular areas, in a meaningful way<\/cite>.” (p 69)<\/p>\n

“Rich block play does not just occur.\u00a0 It develops when the adult acts as a powerful catalyst working hard to enable it<\/cite>.”<\/p>\n

(Bruce, in Gura 1992: 26)<\/p>\n

“Block play offers an open-ended, creative and valuable play and learning experience available to every setting.\u00a0 It offers children freedom \u2013 to explore, take apart and put back together any block-based creation they can think of<\/cite>.”<\/p>\n

(Building Learning, Block Play<\/a>, PACEY, Charlie Chewter)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h3>\n

Key messages:<\/h3>\n