Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/making-the-most-of-the-best-play-materials/5009445/
Other children are the most important elements in the play environment in group care settings. Children together can improvise play, as they have always done in large families and child-filled neighborhoods. High-quality play in restricted space under adult supervision, however, begins with the good ideas of those adults whose "contribution to play always begins with the physical environment, with stage setting" (Jones and Reynolds, 1992, p. 15). Appropriate, challenging toys and other materials give children something important to do together, and separately, too- satisfying their need for both private and group play.Effective planning for play first requires investment in the basics and then imaginative stretching of the possibilities of these basic materials. Basics, like blocks and sand, encourage children to become "master builders," constructing their play environment. Children in a group need enough building materials at each of three size levels - full size, floor, and table.
Extending Full Size Block Play
With full-size materials children build spaces they can live in, indoors or out. Large hollow wooden blocks - expensive, and worth the investment - are the most durable and versatile material. They can be combined in many ways to create houses, sidewalks, walls, and ...