ABSTRACT

Block Parties examines young children’s spatial development through the lens of emergent STEAM thinking. This book explores the physical and psychological tools that children use when they engage in constructive free play, and how these tools contribute to and shape the constructions they produce. Providing readers with the tools and understanding necessary to develop children’s spatial sense through the domains of mapping and architecture, this cutting-edge volume lays the groundwork for both cognitive development and early childhood specialists and educators to develop more robust models of STEAM-related curriculum that span the early years through to adolescence.

chapter |5 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|29 pages

Discovering STEAM in the Early Years

chapter 2|19 pages

Play Matters

chapter 3|42 pages

Blocks, Bricks, and Planks

Visuospatial Constructive Play Objects

chapter 4|18 pages

Simple VCPOs Are Best

chapter 7|15 pages

Coding STEAM during Constructive Free Play

chapter 8|15 pages

Promoting STEAM Play with VCPOs

What Children Can Tell Us