48600 - Building Forts Builds Intellect

School is out. The facts are in. More research reveals the value of play-based learning for healthy intellectual development of young children. And, fort building certainly constitutes play.

Looking at academic and intellectual skills, researchers agree that both play an important role in a child’s development. However, more evidence arises to indicate that a heavier emphasis on inborn intellectual dispositions in the early years reaps better long-term results.

What does this mean to parents? Academic skills expect children to master elements of disconnected information. Drills and worksheets may ring familiar to parents and children alike. Information with concrete answers requiring memorization …show more content…
Examples of these skills include questioning, reasoning, predicting and analyzing. The development of ideas, study of them and search for understanding associated with intellectual pursuits critically broadens a child’s learning.

Yes, both of these skill sets are vital to a child’s development. But studies reveal the increased value of encouraging inborn intellectual dispositions from an early age. Lilian G. Katz, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s professor emerita of early childhood education, states that neurological research contradicts the “earlier is better” theory of academic training.

In fact, it is Katz’ belief that intellectual dispositions can be “weakened or even damaged by excessive and premature formal instruction.” Her research and study strongly indicate a need for learning that weighs more heavily on intellectual skills in early childhood.

Let’s go a little further. A report entitled, “Reading in Kindergarten: Little to Gain and Much to Lose,” reveals conclusions of the authors that active, play-based experiences enable children to develop vital learning skills. Their research supports a finding that decades of research and the experience of many parents indicates. Children learn through …show more content…
From the moment the Fort Magic kit dumps from the box, the mind is engaged. Creativity dreams up a vision for the fort, while reasoning puts a plan into action. And, the innovation begins.

Hypothesizing comes into play as pieces are put together. Questions arise and solutions explored in the analysis of each step. Just listen to the conversation, and you might glimpse the wheels of young minds spinning. And, all the while, language, interpersonal and conflict resolution skills develop as your children interact with one another or with you.

When an idea doesn’t work, problem-solving areas of the brain engage to find solutions. The collapse of the fort inspires new ideas and promotes understanding of the world around these young minds. Successful completion of the plan breeds confidence and inspires children for the next build.

These opportunities of self-regulation, initiative and continued interaction prove vital to a child’s learning environment, according to Katz. Without these play-based learning experiences, children develop feelings of inadequacy, confusion and anxiety. Not the picture of childhood that any parent desires to