From Fingerprints To Masterpieces : Architecture Born From Play

Play is key to the development of children. It is not idle time doing nothing. It is key to children's growth and development. It is instrumental in their physical and cognitive development, helps inspire creativity, dexterity and flexibility. It is the foundation for all higher level learning.

I have a group of children who love to build as a part of their play. It doesn't matter what I give them they find a way to build with it. Boxes and blocks become towers. Pegs and peg boards turn into fences for the animals. Dolls get balanced across table to make bridges. Outside the tires, stumps, wood cookies and buckets are mixed with ramps to build all kinds of contraptions.

So the other day I was curious as to what would happen if I put out a few new materials. I rounded up shovels, tree branches, from the wooded area by our school, and twine. I added strips of fabric and then gave a gentle nudge as I started to dig a hole in the ground. Soon I was surrounded by a flurry of activity, as the children took over.

Once one pole was in place the ideas took off. Soon others were carting tree branches over to the construction site. Another child went off to get a bucket because, "We need concrete to set the poles and I need to mix it in a bucket." He returned with a bucket of damp soil he placed around poles as they were set into place.

With direction from the kids I helped balance the poles and support the structure as they added to it. Once it was up they stood back and looked at it. They than began to go in and out of it. They circled it and crawled through the poles. This went on for about 30 minutes.

I stayed near by to be sure the building was solid and the children were safe if a collapse was going to happen. I then used the twine to anchor the branches together. I grabbed a roll of tulle to help in this process and make our structure a little bit more visible since it was in an area they usually run through freely.

I then stepped back and watched. A few children had been curious about the twine and tulle. Soon they grabbed the fabric scraps and began to enclose their building. Some called it a house, others thought it was a cage and some insisted it was a fort. There were a few who decided it was a Tee Pee. They worked all morning long playing and using their imagination.

Play is the building blocks for skills needed later in life. Yet play is becoming more and more limited and its value is becoming lost. This whole process came about through giving the children a simple idea and then letting them be. They learned so much more by doing this than they ever would have learned sitting still completing a worksheet or following my lesson plan. I was just a guide to get them going and then let them teach me what they could do and discover on their own.