Since Friedrich Froebel first made play with wooden blocks central to his Kindergarten pedagogy in the 1820s, Block Play has become a popular activity among children. Lego is now the world's biggest toymaker, Minecraft the most popular video game, and the YouTube channel of BBC Cbeebies' Numberblocks animated mathematics education series aimed at 4-7 year olds has registered almost 10 billion views. 

Yet, while there have been many studies of blocks as mathematical manipulatives in primary schools, in particular alongside the government's current mathematics 'mastery' programme on which Numberblocks is based, there have been relatively few studies of Block Play from a mathematical perspective in Early Years settings. 

In 2024 Robin Taylor, Assistant Head at the St Paul's Children's Centre in Bristol, set up a dedicated Block Play room there for 2-4 year olds, to research and experiment with pedagogies of Block Play to support early mathematics education. Recently Robin has been collaborating on some aspects of this research with Michael Rumbelow, who is studying pedagogies of mathematical Block Play for his PhD at the School of Education.

This will be a hands-on, experiential session with opportunities to playfully explore Block Play.

Children’s collaborative, creative constructions offer a vivid window onto all aspects of their learning – here we will be looking at Block Play through a specifically mathematical lens.

We will reflect together on how to create enriched and enlivened Block Play spaces; how to support children’s learning trajectories as they journey through Johnson's 7 stages of Block Play (Tian et al., 2020); and, how to observe and scaffold the huge range of mathematical and spatial skills children demonstrate whilst filling and fitting, making and modelling, reproducing and representing with blocks.

We will also explore the themes of our current research with Michael, including the role of the adult in Block Play and what forms of documentation best support children’s understanding of their play in general and mathematical concepts specifically.

Come along and be playful! Immerse yourself in the delightful, imaginative, creative world of Block Play!