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18 Easy Social-Emotional Activities for Preschoolers and Toddlers Using Discovery Building Sets

Social-emotional development is a significant aspect of early childhood education, setting the groundwork for children’s relationships, behaviour, and emotional understanding. Discovery building sets, with their colourful blocks and engaging shapes, present whimsical opportunities to encourage these skills in preschoolers and toddlers. Here are 18 easy activities that integrate social-emotional learning (SEL) with hands-on play using building sets:

1. Feelings Tower

Provide children with different coloured blocks representing various emotions (e.g., red for anger, blue for sadness). As they build, encourage them to explain a time they felt that emotion, helping them articulate feelings.

2. Teamwork Creation

Pair children up and challenge them to build something together using a set number of blocks. They must plan, negotiate, and compromise — fostering collaboration and communication skills.

3. Emotion Faces

Encourage children to create faces using their blocks. After they’ve built various expressions, have them choose one and share a story or a time when they felt that way.

4. Kindness Challenges

Assign each child a block with a kindness act written on it, such as ‘Share a toy’ or ‘Compliment a friend.’ They can take turns performing these acts while playing, reinforcing the importance of kindness and empathy.

5. Story Building

Ask children to build scenes based on their favourite stories or characters. This activity fosters creativity and helps them connect emotionally with narratives, discussing how the characters might feel in different situations.

6. Friendship Structures

Ask children to create a building that represents what a good friend is. This allows them to identify positive attributes in friendships and communicate them with others.

7. Emotional Sculptures

Let children build sculptures that represent different feelings. Later, they can present their sculptures to the group and explain what they represent, aiding both emotional expression and public speaking skills.

8. Turn-Taking Towers

Create a game where children take turns to add a block to a communal tower. This activity underscores the importance of patience, sharing, and turn-taking — vital social skills for preschoolers.

9. Caring Connections

Utilise a larger building set to create a family unit. Children can add blocks representing each family member, discussing their roles and why they care for them, fostering a sense of belonging and appreciation.

10. Emotion Simon Says

Play a game of ‘Simon Says’ using emotions communicated through block displays. For example, ‘Simon says show me a happy face with your blocks.’ This activity helps children become aware of non-verbal communication cues.

11. Building Bridges

Have children build bridges and discuss how they connect two sides. This can be a metaphor for building relationships, encouraging dialogue about how they can connect with peers.

12. Alternate Building

Encourage children to alternate who chooses the next block to build. This activity promotes cooperation and helps them learn to value other people’s ideas and choices.

13. Big Feelings Wall

Allocate a space for children to create a ‘feelings wall’ using their blocks. They can represent various emotions and discuss the occasions when they feel each one, enhancing their emotional literacy.

14. Emotion Charades

Have children create structures that relate to different emotions, and then act them out while others guess the feeling. This activity encourages expression and helps develop empathy through understanding others’ feelings.

15. Listening Building Game

Play a game where one child describes what they want to build without showing it, and the others must listen and construct it accurately. This fosters active listening and clear communication.

16. Compliment Circle

As children pass a block around, each must give a compliment to the person it’s passed to. This fosters positive relationships and reinforces self-esteem among peers.

17. My Dream House

Encourage children to create their dream house using building sets and ask them to describe who lives there and what activities they enjoy doing together. This promotes family discussion and values.

18. Scavenger Emotion Hunt

Hide emotion-themed blocks around the play area. When children find them, they must express an experience related to that emotion before they can keep the block. This adds an exciting movement component while focusing on deep emotions.

Conclusion

Using discovery building sets to facilitate social-emotional activities provides preschoolers and toddlers with playful yet educational experiences. These activities not only foster crucial skills but also create an environment where children feel comfortable expressing themselves and understanding others. Incorporating these ideas into playtime can significantly enhance the emotional intelligence of young learners, equipping them for social interactions throughout their lives.

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