When we started our construction project we wanted to see what the children were interested in learning when it comes to construction. We posed the questions; “what do we know,” “what do we want to know,” and “who can we ask?” Many of the children wanted to know how to build a house as well as how windows get installed into houses. With this in mind the educators began implementing provocations for the children to further this curiosity and learning explorations.
We found a modern home LEGO build that we thought would be a perfect hands-on experience for the children to learn how a house is built from the ground up. The set contains 939 pieces and offers many opportunities for collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking throughout the building process. We regularly utilize LEGO in our program room, as we find it to be an excellent tool for supporting fine motor development, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and perseverance in children. Lego also encourages teamwork, communication, and imaginative learning in a fun and engaging way.
Over the span of a month we came together as a class to build our Lego house. We had a few children that became “Lego Experts,” as they’ve done Lego builds at home. Our LEGO experts used their skills and knowledge to support their peers in the classroom. They worked collaboratively to assist others with following instructions, problem-solving, and locating pieces when peers became stuck or needed extra support. It was wonderful to see the children demonstrating leadership, patience, teamwork, and kindness while working together toward a shared goal. The preschoolers enhanced their counting skills by counting each of the bricks to make sure they had the correct amount for each building step as well as enhanced their shapes and colours recognition as some of the colours and shapes were similar. The preschoolers followed the step by step instruction booklet that we later would refer to it as our building blueprints.
As we built, we discussed how houses are constructed and the importance of having a strong, stable foundation so the house remains safe and does not fall down. The children explored how each piece connects together to create stability and learned that careful planning and building from the bottom up are important parts of the construction process. This building project gave the preschoolers a hands-on learning experience and had the educators being active co-learners with the children. The room erupted in celebrations with clapping and cheering once we had completed the house! The children have requested more Lego builds to further their learning, I wonder where Lego will take us next!
