"House of Cars" (A Sample Observation on Children's Learning)

At Kindy, I observed two boys working together in constructing something out of the big wooden blocks. When I asked them what they were doing, they said that they were making a "house for their cars". The cars represented family members: Mummy, Daddy, brother, sister, and baby. They both said, "But they're not people. They're cars."

One of the two boys pointed to each of the section in the "house" to indicate that those were bedrooms for each of the family member. The other one showed which one was the doorway so that the cars could get in and out of the house. They also used the curvy blocks that they linked together to construct roads, bridges, and roundabout.

This interaction and collaborative work between them lasted for over half an hour until it was time for pack up before afternoon rest time. It was good to see the two boys interacting well and accepting each other's ideas for their design and construction of their house. They both demonstrated creativity and imagination in creating something using materials available to them and used a representation to animate the characters in their play (e.g. cars instead of people). They communicated well with each other using clear verbal language and expressed satisfaction for their finished product. In the end, they even let others play with their constructed house and road, and they helped in packing up as well.

As the Educator in the Kindy room, I will continue to encourage them to strengthen their friendship and provide them opportunities to work together on a shared project or experience. I can also give them resources that they can use to draw or paint their "design" or "plan" for a new building construction.