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Gender in Block Play
January 14, 2013
You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have.
-Maya Angelou
-Maya Angelou
"Based upon research and observations of girls in block play, girls use blocks as a way to represent and extend their role in the world.... As girls play with blocks, they engage in many of the behaviors that they have been socialized into: supporting; affirming; giving assistance; and, as a result, they develop strong interpersonal skills. Many of the structures that girls build — such as houses, stores, offices, and churches — are associated with the familiar world that they are a part of and whose structure they support.
"Boys, on the other hand, are seen...as being creative accommodators who create new schemes and who are curious and ready to explore. When boys play with blocks, they are focused on the task of building and tend to be unaffected by the communication of another peer.... Much of boys’ block play is focused on creating more elaborate structures and finding innovative uses for materials."
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Comments (2)
Displaying All 2 CommentsTAFE
Sydney, NSW, Australia
reading this clip, i felt an instant sting of gender bias- how can such broad statements be supported for males and females. My experience supports both genders playing with blocks in representative ways and both genders exploring the challenges of balance, weight, proportion and design. How often do educators set children on a gender biased approach.
CSBC
Denver, United States
I would love to see this kind of analysis regarding boys in the dramatic play area. How do boys engage in dramatic play differently than girls? How does this relate to their growth and development? How can early childhood teachers support the dramatic play of boys?
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