Blocks learning centers should include 4 categories: blocks, people, cars, and animals. Each category should have 10-20 items to choose from. The blocks center allows children to develop skills like geometry, hand-eye coordination, and vocabulary extension. Teachers can extend learning by asking questions about structures children build with blocks. Providing open-ended materials like blocks supports developing skills in many domains like math, social studies, creativity, and literacy.

1. Blocks Learning Center

2. Item #1
• In every block center, four categories are required. In each block
category, the children should have free choice between 10-20
different items in each category.
These categories are:
• Blocks (wooden, foam, fabric, and plastic)
• People
• Cars
• Animals

3. • Blocks: (ex: wooden blocks, soft fabric blocks, cardboard blocks, and plastic
blocks)
• People: (ex: Multiple races, job specific people, and people with diverse abilities)

4. • Cars: (ex: common cars, construction vehicles, airplanes, boats, and trains)
• Animals:(ex: Dinosaurs, sea creatures, zoo animals, and farm animals)

5. Item #2
In order to represent diversity in the block center:
• People blocks can be many races such as African
American, Hispanic, Asian, and Caucasian, to name a
few.

6. Item #3
When children are given free access to materials in
the Block Center, they will develop new skills that
include:
•Understanding Geometry
•Hand-Eye Coordination
•Extension of vocabulary

7. Item #4
The teacher’s role is to demonstrate to the children how the different
types of blocks are used to extend learning.
Examples:
• Building a house with blocks and asking the children how many blocks
there are.
• Lining a road with road signs and trees, and asking the children what
the signs mean or what color the trees are.

8. Domain: Cognition and General Knowledge
Strand 1: Learning About Mathematical Concepts
A7. Demonstrate advancing knowledge of numbers and counting.
(Page 85)
Strategies:
• Encouraging child to make thoughtful predictions and estimates
about quantity, size, distance, and time in daily activities by
playing guessing games.
• Providing a variety of objects for child to manipulate and count
(e.g., large, soft blocks).

9. Domain: Cognition and General Knowledge
Strand 3: Learning About Families and Communities
C3. Make choices. (Page 107)
Strategies:
• Talking with child about his favorite activities using open-ended questions
(e.g.," How did you do that? Tell me more.”)
• Providing multiple areas of the room (e.g., blocks, dramatic play, table
toys) from which child can choose to play.

10. Domain: Approaches to Learning
Strand 3: Creativity and Inventiveness
C6. Approach tasks experimentally, adapting as the activity
evolves. (Page 63)
Strategies:
• Providing age-appropriate learning centers comprised of many
varied and open-ended materials.
• Providing opportunities for child to experiment with safe art
materials and create simple art projects.

11. Domain: Language and Literacy
Strand 2: Phonological Awareness and Alphabetic Knowledge.
B12. Recognize that sounds are associated with letters of the
alphabet and that they form words. (Page 75)
Strategies:
• Providing child with hands-on materials containing letters with
which to sound out words with assistance (e.g. Lettered blocks,
magnet letters, etc.)
• Playing matching games with child (e.g. Find objects that start
with a certain letter in the room.)