Graphing Basics Teaching the concept of two variables (colour and animal) intercepting at a point through a fun game of bingo.

Sudoku with blocks: no one colour may repeat in a row or a column. Children use blocks to complete the puzzle.

Blocks need to hang over the edge. Can the children work out how many blocks are needed to counter the weight so that the structure does not slip over the edge?

A ramp is needed to be able to drive up onto the mountain top

Free play after working with river banks - the blocks are either stepping stones or meant to fill the space.

The children built themselves snakes. They were given string and asked how they could create movement in their creations. The snakes were then taken for a walk and even held up high.

Tower Building. Challenge was to gain height with a limited amount of blocks

Structure built during free play

Building From Perspective. Each child was asked to build their own wall. The walls were then pushed together to build a house.

Creating an obstacle course for one’s marble and then having some fun. What structures (ramps, tunnels, etc.) allow the marbles to roll faster / slower / more accurately

Working in pairs One child builds a simple structure and dictates the process to the other child, who has to build what is said. The chairs are used as a wall, to cover the original model. Once the copy is built, the models are compared to see how good the instructions were and how well the other child could follow them.

The instructor builds a model and displays it behind a make-shift wall at the front of the classroom. The children have to come up, study the model, memorise what they see and go back to their spot and rebuild the model from memory.

Each child was allowed to choose a story card. They were then instructed to build two things seen on the card or that fit in with the theme. They had to tell a story by acting out the scenes with their built structures.

Building a sequence / pattern

Free play. A ballerina on stage.

Group work. The individual models built by the children are pushed together as one big group model. Do they notice that the model is made up of individual ones?

What is needed for school? Apparently a handbag and a briefcase 😉

Free Play. A symmetrical model built by a child.

Free Play. Struture being built.

A model built out of the idea of a tower, in which the blocks may not be pushed together. They should lie freely on top of one another.

Building the largest tower and working on its stability (reinforcing it at the bottom to steady it)

A child builds the animal shown.

Working with sums What makes 9? 5 green + 4 blue,. Helping children to visualise the different sums.

The child in front builds what the child behind dictates who is viewing their own simple model which they have built in secret.

Draw the model that is laid out in front. Each child draws from their own perspective.

Building the number depicted on the card

Shooting a marble through the gaps in previously built structures that make up an obstacle course.

The children are comparing the models they have built according to a card. They are discussing why the one looks different to the other two.

A high level of Sudoku requiring the help of the whole group.

Developing fine motor control. Blocks are picked up with the use of pegs. No hands may touch the blocks.