Building as an activity and a type of learning play is fairly common for the early elementary aged child. For children who are ages four to eight or nine, building with blocks, legos, or even chairs, pillows, and blankets is an important way to play (both socially and independently), and learn basic math and spatial skills. Parents can provide plenty of supplies and space to encourage this natural interest in “building.”
While children may start stacking blocks and toys on top of each other when they are older babies and toddlers, the interest in building doesn’t really take off until they are four or five years old. Then, toys that encourage building—blocks, legos, erector sets, etc. become favored toys for many kids. My own children would often shun these traditional “building” toys, however, to build things with everything and anything else. I used to refer to their elaborate structures as “camps” and they loved to build forts and towers both inside and out. Despite the fact that I would have to turn my head to keep from cringing at the mess, they could spend hours working on building things with books, chairs, blocks, boards, rocks, and just about anything else that could be stacked, moved and arranged.
Providing children with plenty of space and a variety of materials and “things” that they are allowed to use for building not only encourages creativity, but I also think a great deal of math and science and problem-solving skills are learned in these building years. Figuring out how to balance and stack and some basic engineering will help encourage those basic math and spatial skills that will be with them forever. My three children have always done well in math and science in school and have great senses of direction and spatial ability. While this might just be a natural intelligence, I like to think that all those years of building and constructing helped to hone those abilities. Additionally, I think that children learn how to construct and build on their own, but also how to work together on a group project with siblings and friends. What great lessons in the group process!
Some children will definitely stick with an interest in building and constructing, while others may just lose interest as they get into the later elementary school years. Regardless, parents can make the most of this developmental by encouraging the “building” years.
See Also: The “Joke” Stage
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