block play

I have been so enjoying watching Bernard playing with his blocks.  They say block play is a foundation of mathematics and I can see why.  He is crazy at the moment about putting things inside other things.  He puts the smaller blocks inside the bigger blocks, and then he tries to put the bigger blocks inside the smaller blocks.  It's an emotional process for him:  he was crying with frustration yesterday when he had the 2 inside the 3 block but could not get it out because its empty side was not facing outwards.  I could help him let it drop out, but he could only make it happen himself by accident.  It's interesting that one or two successes were not enough: he needs to understand how to make it work.