Relationships between block play and the social development of young children

Abstract

This naturalistic observational study investigated the social behavior of 20 mixed‐sex, ‐race, and ‐SES kindergarten children as they played with unit (small, solid, hardwood blocks) and large hollow blocks. The findings indicated the following: (1) The children in this study engaged in group, parallel, and solitary play with both types of blocks but group play was more likely to occur with large hollow blocks while parallel and solitary play occurred more often with unit blocks. (2) Children spent more time playing with large hollow blocks. (3) No sex differences were found in the levels of social participation, social behavior, or the amount of time these children spent with the two types of blocks. (4) Many behaviors traditionally considered anti‐social were rarely or never observed. The results from this study suggest that both unit and large hollow block play may provide young children with many opportunities and experiences that encourage social development.