Eureka! exists to engage children in a range of play-based learning experiences which facilitate their emotional, intellectual, physical, social and creative development.
Our Little Explorers programme has been specifically created by our Play and Learning Officer Jenny, to help families with young children to not only enjoy their visit to Eureka! but to also help development of some core life skills.
The theme currently is… *drumroll*… Mini-Builders!
Can you fix it? Yes, you can!
While children play with construction activities they are unleashing their inner Bob, and developing all kinds of additional skills which contribute to their physical, cognitive and social development.
Crucially, building type activities contribute to the development of:
Understanding basic mathematical concepts like shapes, sizes, patterns and spatial relationships. When my son was little we played with building blocks (a lot!). I was always the ‘Warehouse’ and he was the ‘Builder’. He would ask for the shapes he wanted from the warehouse, and it was my job to find them and pass them over. So a standard lego brick was a “double-4”, a small brick was a “single-2”. I took my job very seriously, and actually loved laying out my ‘warehouse’ and grouping all the same shapes and sizes together for him to see and choose from. When he got a little older, I would add a cost to each piece, and he would then ‘buy them’ from the warehouse, adding up the cost of his building as he went along.
There are many challenges involved in construction play which require problem solving skills, such as figuring out how to balance blocks, or connect pieces together – whether they be pieces of fabric, paper, straws, sticks or whatever. Children need to experiment, adjust and find solutions. Setting little challenges like building the ‘tallest’ or the ‘longest’ creation they can is always fun and helps them to learn to cope with disappointment when it falls or breaks too.
Spatial awareness and reasoning can also be explored as they encounter dimensions, balance and stability concepts while they experiment with their creations.
Fine motor skills can be built from all types of activities, and are essential for tasks like writing, drawing, buttoning up clothes, holding cutlery and all sorts of everyday things. Handling small parts, assembling blocks and manipulating materials all help to improve these fine motor skills.
Softer skills such as language development and social interaction are also brilliant outcomes of construction play activities. Children building and creating alongside parents or other children learn to use new vocabulary, respond appropriately to others, listen, take turns and cooperate whilst working towards a shared goal, or individual projects. Our ‘warehouse / builder’ activity grew to incorporate colours, and even led us to using different voices and accents as we played different characters buying and building with blocks from the warehouse! I did a brilliant ‘no refunds mate’ character which made us both giggle enormously!
Perhaps most importantly, construction and building type activities allow children to use their wonderful imaginations and creativity. They can explore ideas, build fantastical structures, imagine scenarios and create a whole imaginary world around the things they have made. And equally as importantly, they can share that with you!
Mini-Builders at Eureka! will include the following activities for you and your Little Explorer to get stuck into;
👷️ Building Corner. Dress up in our hard hats and high-vis vests and practise your balancing and building skills with a wide range of building materials. Ideal for testing out those mathematical and creative skills.
📐Lollipop Shapes & letters. Follow the simple templates to create shapes and letters with lollipop sticks! Perfect for fine motor skills, shapes and letters recognition.
🌉 Bridge Building. Using cups and lollipop sticks create a bridge to help the animals cross the river. This activity builds skills in spatial awareness and problem solving, whilst encouraging imagination and storytelling. What animals do you want to help get across the river?
🚧Sand & Digger Sensory Tub. Using sand and pebbles, your Little Explorer can become the boss of the whole construction site and use the little diggers to sculpt and build their own imaginary landscape. Playing in the sensory tub will help develop fine motor skills, spatial awareness, social, imagination and language skills.
Perhaps most importantly, our Mini-Builders theme will be great fun! All whilst engaging you and your children in activities which support their holistic development, boosting this essential part of their early childhood development.
Mini-Builders will run from 7 May through to 28 June, so book online now, and come and join in the fun!
