Children can learn concepts of little and big through their everyday block play and practice working cooperatively.

Materials:

• Assorted size blocks
• Room to build block towers

Directions:

Talk with the children about the words "big" and "little". Display a set of building blocks, and have the children find the biggest block and then the smallest block. Ask the children to sort the blocks into two piles -- one with big blocks and one with little blocks. Then have the children use the little blocks to make one tower and the big blocks to build another one.

After the towers are built, ask the children to think of new things to build with the blocks. To close, ask the children to put all the blocks away, placing all the big blocks in one basket and all the little blocks in another.

(If there are a number of medium-sized blocks, the children can set them aside for a third category. The children can then make another tower with those blocks.)

The children might want to talk about things that seem big to them, such as construction trucks, houses, towers, and airplanes. You could explain that the words "little" and "big" are relative words -- that some things may seem big to one person and small to someone else. You could point out that they might seem big to younger children, but feel small when compared to their parents.

Back to Theme