Documenting and Displaying Children’s Long Term Lego Projects Can Provide A myriad of Benefits

The educational benefits of Legos are well chronicled. https://www.tsc.nsw.edu.au/tscnews/eight-educational-benefits-of-playing-with-lego

While other types of larger blocks provide some of these benefits too, it is easier to save Lego construction projects than larger block projects in early childhood classrooms so children can work on them over time. By having an area in the classroom where children can save their projects, children are able to keep coming back to work on them over days, weeks, and months. This helps children develop Executive Functioning Skills like goal setting and long term planning. Teachers can help with this by documenting the process of the children’s work by taking pictures and notes of what children are doing and saying during the construction process. . This can help with both assessing the children and also helping children see all the hard work and planning they put into making their construction paying off over time. Creating displays for the final product either in the classroom, School building, or classroom website  alongside their process both values children’s work and let’s their families see what they did. You can even ask children to describe their process and finished product and write up their responses next to their LEGO project’s display. Articles related to the educational benefits of LEGO play can be placed near displays or linked to online for families to gain further insights into the work of the children. 

Below are some pictures of my Prek students LEGO constructions