If the house caught on fire but I still had some time to rescue a toy after getting all the important stuff out, there is no question in my mind that I would take our Haba blocks. Blocks and balls are pretty much the best toys ever, and I think the kid and I could play well for years with these gorgeous building blocks.
Anyway, J got two new sets of Haba blocks for Christmas, and to my surprise, one set, the Clown Blocks, was on a smaller scale than the usual Haba blocks (3 cm for Clown blocks vs. the usual 4 cm). At first I was very mildly disappointed, but then I realized (a) who cares, they're still great, and (b) this new variety of shapes and sizes offered great opportunity for what Jackson calls a "lesson." In fact, after we did this for the first time yesterday, he come up to me today and said, "Blocks...lesson?" and we did it all over again.
Basically, I unrolled a place mat (Montessori says it focuses the child's attention), set out four blocks in a random arrangement, and asked him to point out which one is different. He did a great job, although for some reason the combination of three rectangular solids and one cube confounded him and/or made him mad. But he blasted through everything else, and I got a chance to very gently introduce vocabulary like taller, wider, diameter, cube, cylinder, cone and so forth.
 |
| Here he is pointing out that the larger triangle is the one that is different. |
- 3 large cubes, 1 small cube
- 3 small triangles, 1 large triangle (pictured above)
- 3 red cubes, 1 yellow cube
- 3 short wide cylinders, 1 narrower taller cylinder
- 3 rectangular solids, 1 cube
- 3 cubes, 1 rectangular solid
- 3 cylinders, 1 rectangular solid
- 3 rectangular solids, 1 cylinder
- 3 cylinders, 1 cylinder with a "hat" (conical tower topper thing)
When we got to the cylinders, Jackson took over and decided it was time to play/work on his own. He had a field day exploring the many dimensions of the four cylinders, including shape and sound.
We love our Haba blocks, too, but I don't have that set. Block play seems to have fallen by the wayside, so a new type of block may be in order. I love the photos and the chance to see how you use them!
ReplyDelete