More Keva Creations

Here are some more Keva block designs built in preschool this week.

Persistence                                                                  Originality

 

Balance

 

Teamwork

Patterning

Today (and last week) for Counting Jar, we worked on patterns. First, I made a three-cube pattern (red-black-white-red-black-white). I passed it around the small group and had each student figure out what the next color would be to keep the pattern going.

Next, I pulled out the Counting Jar pattern, which was blue-yellow-orange-blue-yellow-orange. The kids' job was to copy the pattern exactly and them put their work in their own Counting Jar bag. Then, I had them choose their own colors to make their own patterns. Some kids chose two colors and some chose three.

When everyone had a pattern copy finished, we brought all the bags to closing meeting to check each others' work. As we checked each pattern to make sure it matched the original  blue-yellow-orange, we then added it to the tower. By the end of checking everyone's work, we had a tower that was longer than the width of our meeting rug.

We decided to count the cubes to see how many we had used in out long patter. I showed the kids how to break 10 off at a time. We counted by Towers of 10. We ended up with exactly 90 cubes. We also noticed when we placed the towers of 10 next to each other, we discovered a new pattern. The colors made diagonal lines.

Keva Mania

I wanted to thank all of the parents for their generous holiday gift. I was able to purchase a set of 400 Keva Planks and we have been expanding our building skills in the classroom with them. While the uniform building planks appear unassuming, the creative possibilities with them are unlimited.  I played with them over break and, with a lot of patience, made some of the more challenging structures. I showed these pictures to the class and talked about how some of the buildings took me 5 or 6 tries before I got them to balance and stay standing.

The kids in the class have had some time to explore with them and they have attempted to copy some of the ideas from the pictures in the book that came with the planks. They are learning some principles of how to build solid and strong.

The larger projects, like the tall tower that grew taller than me, foster group participation. A few kids at a time added stories as the tower grew.
We have noticed that block building in general is getting more inventive and creative since we have had the Keva planks in the room.
I am looking forward to the future designs the kids invent.