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ACTIVITY GAME USING IMAGIBRICKS GIANT CARDBOARD BUILDING BLOCKS AND MASKING TAPEWHAT YOU WILL NEED
1. Brick-Pattern Blocks
2. Masking Tape (Several rolls since using the tape is a special treat for children and each child will need his own roll)
3. One basket or a large box
4. Blunt-tip scissors (one pair for each child)
This is a beginner lever game and will require adult participation and supervision. Parents and techers may make this game both fun and education at the same time. As the play develops you may guide and direct the creative play to teach your lesson or just to keep it rolling along.
WHAT BENEFITS WILL MY CHILDREN GAIN FROM THIS ACTIVITY GAME? Physical development skills such as learning and refining eye-hand coordination is not the only benefit your children will acquire. Their visual (depth) perception will also be improved. As they move about the blocks and/or block structures they build they are learning to manipulate their body within an area without knocking over the blocks. Your child's balance and coordination increase as they work around the blocks.
And, as in any group activity, your children will learn to "work" together and their social skills will begin to flourish.
Block Activity -
Place one roll of masking tape in a basket with children’s scissors (with blunt-tip blades).
Encourage the children to place lines of tape on the floor in any pattern.
When they have finished, ask them to place the blocks on the lines to cover the tape.
After the children have done this activity several times, they will make the tape patterns on the floor more intricate. Have them, if they themselves have not already thought of it, stack some of the blocks (having a "tower" of blocks to knock down later on promotes even more fun!) And, because the ImagiBricks are cardboard and lightweight, there will be no loud noise to frighten anyone (or wake up the baby)!
To add a variation, pair up the children. Ask one child to make a pattern on the floor with tape, while the second child covers up the tape with blocks.
Expand the activity by asking the children to examine their block designs on the floor. Ask them, “Who or what could live there?” Encourage children to pretend to be the person or animal that lives in the structure.
The conclusion to this activity is clean-up time. Encourage the children to pull up the tape, roll it into a ball, throw it away, and return the blocks to the right place. Cleaning up is more fun when you add music!
SUGGESTIONS FOR ASSESSMENT
Take photographs of the child cutting the masking tape and putting it down on the floor. It is quite a fine motor challenge for the young child to manipulate the tape, cut it, and put it down. Each child will show a different level of mastery. Tape record children talking about the brick patterns on the floor and their explanations of who could live there.
This craft idea was found in a book entitled Block Play - The Complete Guide, written by Sharon MacDonald.
WHERE CAN I PURCHASE SOME OF THESE GIANT CARDBOARD BLOCKS?ALL I CAN IMAGINE sells blocks in sets of 16, 24, and 40 pieces and you can read about them on our Cardboard Building Blocks page on our website.
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