Building with blocks offers children concrete experiences with early math concepts.
Blocks are real examples of shapes, numbers, dimensions, and volume.
As children play with blocks, they are experimenting with space and relationships. This is one of the most popular centers in the preschool classroom. Concepts related to space also can be developed by manipulating and building with a variety of shape and pattern blocks. From their understanding of simple shapes, such as squares, triangles, and rectangles, children begin to build more complex structures such as diamonds, ovals, hexagons, and stars. Providing a wide variety of puzzles is an easy way to encourage exploration of space and shapes.