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Clip #1554 - Building Block Towers
CECE Video Library
Overview
This video captures young children engaged in building towers with blocks. It highlights their collaborative efforts, trial-and-error process, and the joy of successful construction, even when towers tumble. The interactions demonstrate early problem-solving, turn-taking, and the development of spatial reasoning as they experiment with different block sizes and stacking techniques to achieve height and stability. The teacher's gentle guidance encourages persistence and celebrates small victories.
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Chapters
- Children are introduced to building blocks as a play activity.
- Initial attempts at building towers result in them falling down.
- Children express a desire to rebuild and make the towers bigger.
This initial phase shows the fundamental challenge and motivation in construction play: overcoming gravity and achieving a desired outcome, sparking curiosity and persistence.
A tower falls down, and the children immediately decide to 'do it again. To make it bigger.'
- Children are encouraged to participate in building.
- They begin to take turns selecting and placing blocks.
- The teacher facilitates by offering different types of blocks (big blocks, bricks).
This chapter illustrates the social learning aspect of building, where cooperation and sharing resources are essential for larger projects.
The teacher offers 'some big blocks' and asks, 'Would you like to try this one?' while noting, 'They're taking turns.'
- Children actively experiment with different block sizes and placement.
- They encounter repeated failures as towers tip over.
- The process involves continuous attempts to 'fix it again' or 'try again'.
This demonstrates the iterative nature of learning and engineering, where failure is not an endpoint but a crucial part of the discovery process.
After a tower falls, a child asks, 'You want to try and fix it again?' and they immediately begin placing more blocks.
- Children work towards making a structure stay up.
- The teacher acknowledges and praises successful placements.
- There's a shared sense of accomplishment when a part of the structure holds.
Recognizing and reinforcing successful steps, even small ones, builds confidence and encourages continued effort towards more complex goals.
The teacher says, 'Iris was excited that you got that one to stay up.'
- Towers continue to fall, leading to laughter and renewed attempts.
- Children show resilience by not giving up despite repeated setbacks.
- The focus shifts to the process and the fun of building, regardless of immediate success.
This highlights the development of grit and a growth mindset, where challenges are met with determination rather than frustration.
A tower falls, and a child exclaims, 'No way! It went over!' followed by laughter and an immediate urge to 'try again.'
Key takeaways
- Building towers involves a cycle of trial, error, and persistence.
- Collaboration and turn-taking are important skills developed during group construction activities.
- Children learn through experimentation, adapting their strategies when structures fail.
- The process of building is as valuable as the final product, fostering enjoyment and engagement.
- Positive reinforcement from adults helps children build confidence and encourages them to keep trying.
- Overcoming challenges in play, like falling towers, builds resilience and problem-solving abilities.
Key terms
Building blocksTowerStabilityConstructionTrial and errorCollaborationTurn-takingPersistenceStructure
Test your understanding
- What are the main challenges children face when building tall towers with blocks?
- How does the process of a tower falling contribute to a child's learning?
- Why is turn-taking important in collaborative building activities?
- Describe a strategy children might use to make their block towers more stable.
- How can adult encouragement impact a child's persistence when building?