Stories of Play – When There Are No Rules

A beautiful morning of chalk drawing, light and shadows in our backyard.

Miss S (14mo) has recently begun stacking blocks as opposed to just deconstructing them. This structure here was a collaborative effort. I modelled for her how to stack them up so that they would cast colourful shadows. She was intrigued to say the least, excitingly pointing out the colours on the ground and trying to touch them.

When she attempted to stack the blocks, what really impressed me was how she had no preconceived ideas (like I do) about which blocks should go on the bottom. For instance on the extreme right, she had attempted to stack the green triangle on top of the green semicircle which was placed curved side down. You can see another example of it with two semicircles in the middle and then a circle on top of it.

My knowledge and life experiences as an adult tell me that curved surfaces shouldn’t be placed at the bottom of a structure you’re building upwards as it’s obviously unstable. I love that at this stage, nothing is out of bounds for her. There are no rules. One day she will learn how a strong stable foundation will enable her to build taller and higher. But for now, she’s exploring, she’s creating, she’s pushing boundaries and discovering the joy and wonders of play.