Brick classroom & Block classroom: preschoolers’ spatial and architectural design skills during constructive play

ABSTRACT

Constructive play, where children manipulate materials to create and build something, is a prevalent form of play in preschool settings. Children can greatly benefit from engaging in constructive play, specifically by developing spatial and architectural skills. Therefore, the current study aim was to examine ways preschoolers used spatial and architectural design skills during constructive play. Participants were observed via the Spatial – Geometric – Architectural (SPAGAR) Coding System and included 31 preschool children aged five-year- old with 16 boys (M = 63.06, SD = 2.112) and 15 girls (M = 62.93, SD = 1.907) from two separate classrooms. While children in one classroom (brick classroom) played with plastic snap-together bricks, children in the other classroom (block classroom) played with non-interlocking wood blocks. Findings indicated that children’s construction-based designs varied. Children who played with blocks usually created designs that included line symmetry, patterning, engineering, and trabeated constructions (i.e. using horizontal beams). Whereas children who played with building bricks created designs that commonly included line and plane symmetry. Although, the types of play materials could have influenced children’s design preferences, children in both classrooms were found to engage in constructive play where various spatial and architectural design skills were practiced over the 10-day observation period.

KEYWORDS:

• Preschoolers
• constructive play
• design
• spatial skills
• architectural skills
• observation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the author, [KA], upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

Notes on contributors

Kadriye Akdemir

Kadriye Akdemir is an instructor at Kastamonu University and PhD student at the department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Middle East Technical University (METU). She has two 2 years of teaching experience as preschool teacher. Her research focuses on design skills of preschool children, risky play, playground designs, STEAM and visual arts in early childhood years.

Serap Sevimli-Celik

Serap Sevimli-Celik is an Associate Professor of Elementary and Early Childhood Education in the College of Education at the Middle East Technical University where she teaches courses on Movement Education, Play, and Creativity at the undergraduate level and Embodied Learning at the graduate level. She has written book chapters on active designs, researching play, and transcultural play in early childhood. She has recently written articles on movement education, teacher playfulness, risky play, playground designs, and creativity.