Castle turns into Museum at Montessori

From Castle to Museum Step 1

One sunny day last week some of the children at Southwater Montessori and I were out in the playground early in the morning. I saw the hollow blocks and wondered what it would look like if I put two long sloping pieces together, standing up, so I put them together and looked. I liked it and I decided to give them a bit of a base.

One of the children joined me and put some of the little pieces against the base of my triangle. Then he got long pieces and stood them up either side. I don’t remember whose idea it was to connect the two vertical rectangles with a ‘roof,’ but once that was done, there was no stopping the children.

From Castle to Museum Step Two

Tom became the ‘project manager’ in charge and he was the one who decided it was to be a castle. He knew what he wanted and communicated with great certainty. No child dared gainsay him and neither would they have wanted to, as Tom was charming as well as assertive and, most of all, happy and enthusiastic. My role became, entirely, that of the observer. I took photos and remained in the background.

From Castle to Museum Step Three

They ‘worked’ for many minutes and had a great time. The chair in the picture was for putting pieces on top as well as for the photo shoot of Tom and his team.

I left the children to their friends and other teachers and went inside for a while. When I came back the children had started ‘phase four.’ This involved ‘strengthening’ their construction with ‘cement.’ They applied generous helpings of sand to all available top surfaces and the result was very impressive. It was also at this stage that the ‘castle’ had become a ‘museum.’ Unfortunately I have no good photo of that phase, you’ll just have to take it on trust.

What’s certain is that the children had a wonderful morning and, likewise, we’d all had a great time watching them. It’s wonderful to see the children negotiating, supporting, laughing and spontaneously working as a more or less cohesive group with a purpose.

We are very grateful to Community Playthings in Kent, for their wonderful hollow blocks and to West Sussex County Council for their generous Capital Grant, allowing us to buy them.