What's open-ended play?
And how can I do this with blocks?
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Hi! I hope you’re having a wonderful start to your school year. I’m assuming that as a reader of this newsletter, you have some connection to a child and a school calendar. If I am wrong in assuming that, my apologies, I hope you are gearing up for what hopefully will be a lovely fall season full of cool breezes, technicolor foliage, and comfy sweaters. Two weeks into the 2022-2023 school year I am in the early days of a new job, wherein I am learning how to apply my prior knowledge from a play-based curriculum to one that focuses on semi-structured academic learning. Actually, focusing on block play for this newsletter has inspired me to co-create a project based learning curriculum with one of my classroom teams, and I am looking forward to sharing some of that progress with you over the next few months.
Speaking of! I’ve mentioned open ended play about a dozen times now, and still haven’t really told you what it is. Well, open-ended play is simply a playful interaction without a premeditated set of rules. It can be rule based, and even repetitive, but it can also evolve and change over time. To put it in Hollywood terms that most of us are familiar with, during open-ended play your child is the director and you are the producer. They are the ones with the vision—driving the story line and moving the focus throughout the play scenario. Your job is to support their plans and create opportunities for their ideas to come to life; sometimes that means giving gentle guidance or providing choices to keep the play going, while other times it means sitting back and observing.
Open-Ended Play with Blocks
Here are some simple ways to playfully engage with your child during open-ended block play at the earliest developmental stages
Want suggestions for block sets to use during open-ended play? Check out my previous post about blocks here or click below!
Developmental age: birth to around 6 months
Following your child’s lead—Start by placing a group of blocks in front of your baby on a tummy time mat. When they shift their eyes to a specific block, you can respond by pointing to that block and naming its shape, size, or color. This builds the earliest foundations of intentionality, meaning your child starts to understand, “when I look at something that I want or am curious about, my caregiver responds and takes care of me. My actions have meaning. I have a voice!”
Babies love looking at objects move, so shifting the block from side to side slowly enough that they can continuously watch it move is a great way to explore a block’s physicality with limited mobility. Verbally narrating their actions and your own actions, like saying “back and forth” with a joyful, rhythmic tone of voice or singing along to the pacing of your repetitive movements are wonderful ways to model language—pairing visual (watching the block) with auditory input (listening to someone’s voice) stimulates multiple areas of the brain at the same time, and that combination helps to build stronger, more efficient neural pathways for building vocabulary and verbal communication.
Another simple, silly game that I love to play is putting an object on my head so the child can watch it fall off. Pick up a block, try it some time! Most kids find it to be absolutely hilarious and love watching it tumble over and over again. The repetition sets up a predictable structure to the game, while the unpredictability and anticipation makes it a fun, joyful, open ended interaction.
Developmental age: 6-12 months
At around 6 months, a baby may be sitting up unassisted. Since they probably have a better sense of balance, they could even reach for the block sitting on your head with their hands and begin to imitate your actions1 by putting it on their own head so it falls off.
This is also around the time that babies begin to stack blocks on top of each other and watch them fall down. Most of the time they will be unsuccessful, and as the producer, your role is to support them in persevering and remaining motivated to work through that problem so they can remain regulated and continue to explore. One way to help your child maintain emotional regulation throughout these moments of frustration is to playfully say “oh nooooo, it fell!” and “oh no, not again!” in an overly exaggerated way that keeps things light hearted, so that your child can understand that they aren’t failing and also aren’t alone. You’re in it with them and you will help them succeed, even when things get hard.
For those of you who are visual learners, check out this great video below for some examples of the above mentioned games and some others too!
Developmental age: 1-3 years old
At this stage, children’s play and language are growing exponentially every day. One day they are only stacking 3 blocks and before you know it, they can build a castle.
While searching for video to share in the newsletter, I came across a really wonderful clip from Purdue University about blocks, in which a woman had put together a “block party” after attending a workshop through The University of Wisconsin Extension Racine County. The Block Party protocol involves setting up different blocks stations in a room with simple instructions that outline the educational benefits of playing with blocks.
I must admit, I’m a bit obsessed with the idea of a “block party” (A PUN! A FUN INTERACTION! WHAT COULD BE BETTER?!). For caregivers, this is could be adapted for playdates, family gatherings, and birthday parties by simply removing the instructions and designating small block stations. The kids can then rotate playing with different types of blocks (if you have multiple or could create a few types at home with your child) while interacting with their peers.
For those of you who are professionals in the field, you may be thinking, “this is such a great idea for a group session I could run” or “I want to incorporate this into a parent training group.” If this came to mind and you want to learn more, here is a link to The University of Wisconsin-Racine’s2 block party materials guide in English. For a Spanish version of the guide, click here.
The above video showcases some of the ways that toddlers enjoy playing with blocks most often, and I have highlighted for you the different areas of learning that each type of block play supports in this age group.
Sorting blocks by color, shape, and size—vocabulary and early math skills
Lining blocks up to create repetitive patterns—sequencing and creating patterns help build the foundation for learning to read, write, and tell time
Stacking blocks as high as they can before the tower falls—understanding the function of objects, balance, weight, the principles of gravity, and spatial orientation
Using blocks to build houses or other familiar structures they see in their environment like school or a store—beginnings of pretend play, storytelling, and symbolic thinking
Next up: Strategies for supporting language growth in the first three years of life during block play
https://childmind.org/guide/parents-guide-to-developmental-milestones/#block_da35645b-7bd7-4169-b17b-968bc83472dd
https://racine.extension.wisc.edu/family-living/block-party/