Understanding and supporting block play: Video observation research on preschoolers’ block play to identify features associated with the development of abstract thinking

Abstract

This article reports on a study conducted to investigate the development of abstract thinking in preschool children (ages from 3 years to 4 years old) in a nursery school in England. Adopting a social influence approach, the researcher engaged in 'close listening' to document children's ideas expressed in various representations through video observation. The aim was to identify behaviours connected with features of the functional dependency relationshipa cognitive function that connects symbolic representations with abstract thinking.The article presents three episodes to demonstrate three dominating features, which are i) child/child sharing of thinking and adult and child sharing of thinking; ii) pause for reflection; and iii) satisfaction as a result of self-directed play. These features were identified as signs of learning, and were highlighted as phenomena that can help practitioners to understand the value of quality play and so provide adequate time and space for young children and plan for a meaningful learning environment. The study has also revealed the importance of block play in promoting abstract thinking.

The Impact of Individual Differences, Types of Model and Social Settings on Block Building Performance among Chinese Preschoolers

“…Children’s block building has been investigated for over a century ( Froebel, 1895 ), and its relevance is documented in recent studies ( Casey et al, 2012 ; Ramani et al, 2014 ; Newman et al, 2016 ). In preschool settings, children are provided with wooden unit blocks of varying shapes and sizes for the purposes of free play; children are also sometimes asked to copy a model or a picture, with more difficult tasks requiring symbolic representation ( Otsuka and Jay, 2016 ). Such building activity is, more often than not, recognized as an effective way to promote children’s overall development ( Rogers, 1985 ), literacy skills ( Isbell and Raines, 1991 ; Wellhousen and Giles, 2005 ; Cohen and Uhry, 2011 ), social skills ( Cohen and Uhry, 2007 ), mathematic skills ( Casey et al, 2012 ) and spatial skills ( Ramani et al, 2014 ; Cohen and Emmons, 2017 ).…”

“…One area of interest has been block building as an indicator of the development of symbolic representation, which involves a complex process associated with problem-solving, calculation and abstract thinking abilities ( Diana and Test, 2011 ; Uhry and Cohen, 2011 ; Otsuka and Jay, 2016 ). There are several gaps in the literature.…”

Game-Based Spoken Interaction Assessment in Special Need Children

“…To conclude, the Fischerspiel board game proved to be a promising entertaining and non-threatening way of assessing children's spoken interaction skills. Play is important for learning (Mellou 1994), play can be used for learning (so-called serious games, Abt 1970), and play is informative about learning (Otsuka and Jay 2017). Special need children were the target group in the present study, and given the learning obstacles these children encounter, it was crucial to develop an assessment that was practical, short and varied, and would give a feeling of success.…”

Improvement of Planning Skills in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder After an Educational Intervention: A Study From a Mixed Methods Approach

“…Playing is a child's natural way of expression and provides opportunities for his/ her development and learning. This makes games an essential tool for children's teaching-learning process and for the systematic observation and analysis of their progress (Fasulo et al, 2017;Otsuka and Jay, 2017;Zosh et al, 2018). However, despite its importance, there are few works that carry out a valid and reliable child intervention and evaluation based on games (Salcuni et al, 2017;Hillman, 2018).…”