Today the word that sums up the week that was is:
It’s been Arthur’s other new enterprise, alongside hanging things everywhere: instead of just knocking things down he wants to build them up.
After I wrote about the activity board I made to encourage Arthur’s hanging skills, a friend sent me an interesting link about schemas in children’s play. It made me wonder whether these two interests are in fact connected: they both involve construction, are both about how things in the world go together.
He started with his gorgeous Djeco stacking blocks, carefully placing the cubes on top of each other and delicately attempting to reach inside to put the animals in their homes. His first few attempts ended with the blocks losing their balance though, or him losing his focus and deciding to knock them down.
He’s enjoyed trying to build up his little Haba mirror blocks too, though he has at times been distracted by his reflection!
We continued the theme when we stopped off at the beach the other day, taking advantage of the flat pebbles to see how many we could stack. It wasn’t all that easy though, and turned out to be not quite as much fun as throwing the pebbles in the sea…
But then yesterday he finally cracked it: we’d been sat out in the sunshine, idly playing with the blocks, then daddy came home and with very little prompting Arthur had all of a sudden built a tower!
I think I was probably the most excited out of all of us about this, though Arthur was pretty pleased with himself too. The whole building thing just opens up a whole new world of play, and I’m finding myself getting increasingly fascinated with how his play is helping him learn – and what I can do to help him enjoy it even more.
Sophie is... 
Arrr what lovely pictures! A great word, the twins love building and knocking down 🙂 x #WotW
It’s great fun – especially his little ‘uh oh’ when he does knock them down!
Oh bless him, so clever! What adorable photos, both sets of blocks look really good. Tia likes trying to stack too so I’ll see if I can get her some more. #WOTW
They are fab blocks – especially the djeco ones, really nice and chunky for little hands!
Clever boy 🙂 love those building blocks! My 2yo got something similar last year and they are still a firm fave xx #WotW
It’s nice to find something he likes to play with that I like too! xx
That is a lot of building! I love those building blocks. They are nice and chunky and would be perfect for a toddler starting to pile things up but not precise enough for the fiddly ones we have at home. On my list for when Wriggly grows up! Mel
They are fab – especially with the little animals too which Arthur loves putting in their houses!
Aww! How lovely! What a clever boy x
Thank you 🙂
Fab blocks! The wee girl loves building towers, and knocking them down again 🙂 #WotW
Yep – the knocking down is still an important part 🙂
Awwww great, well done little man. #wotw
🙂
Awww lovely pics, it’s great to capture those little achievements. Maybe you have a future engineer on your hands! #WotW
I’m loving the way this blog is making me focus in on little things that might pass by unnoticed otherwise 🙂
Wow! Lovely photos and clever boy!
Thanks 🙂
Yay, go, Arthur! It is a great new stage and it is fascinating to see them develop and grow. Fab photos 🙂 Thanks for sharing with #WotW x
He seems to be developing at such a pace at the moment! I’m finding myself constantly amazed 🙂