STAGES OF BLOCK PLAY

Stage 1- Tote and Carry
Blocks are carried around to feel their smoothness, their weight
and to hear what kid of sounds they make when they fall. Children
like to fill containers, dump them out, and refill them. (2-3
yrs.)

Stage 2 - Building Begins
Children lay the blocks on the floor in rows, either horizontally
or vertically with much repetition. Children may play alone or
near other children, but rarely in a cooperative way (3yrs.)

Stage 3 - Trial and Error Bridging
Two blocks with a space between them, connected by a third
block. Children learn to bridge by trial and error. (3-4 yrs.)

Stage 4 - Enclosures:
Blocks are placed in such a way that they enclose a space.
Bridging and enclosing are among the earliest “technical” building
problems that children learn to solve. As children work at
building enclosures, they learn the spatial concept of inside and
outside. (4 yrs.)

Stage 5 - Representational Building
At this stage, 4 and 5 year olds add dramatic play to their block
building. They name their structures which relate to a function.
Before this, children may also have named they structures but
the names were not necessarily related to the function of the
building.

Stage 6—Building Sociodramas
By age 5, group cooperative play is common. Children decide
beforehand what they want to build, and they may reproduce
structures that are familiar to them. Children may ask to leave
their structure standing and may play with it again.

Source: Hirsch, Elisabeth (1984) The Block Book.
Washington, D.C.: NAEYC