This is a several day activity. I can’t remember why the duplo even came out, but after the rush, when she was alone and the building slowed down and became more deliberate…

… Helena made sets, recently renamed as duplo sticks or wands. She was so excited to show me how they were the perfect set, “look how many things they can make”…. I confess at this point I did get momentarily excited imagining some mathematical equation that would mean I could work out the exact number of combinations, but too hard, and not where she was headed.

She went through all the duplo to see how many sets she could make, she was only limited by the flowers.

The sets were taken here and there..

Including ending up on her bed side shelf of treasures.

Each one has to have a particular combination of blocks, so many in one colour, so many in another and one strikingly different. For a while the game was the possible patterns she could make with the different coloured blocks. When they are in sticks the pattern of colours has to go a particular way.

There was something about placing them on the big sheet of paper (day two), somehow circles arrived with characters in them that I had to name but that seemed to fissle. Was it who owned them?

Helena was so so so pleased with them, herself even…. she showed me them so many times. Trying to sell me the concept?

There are so many educational theorists who talk about children learning best, their most important learning being when the child is in FREE play, where they have chosen their play/interest, defining their own rules, is process driven, imaginative…..and this sure fits but I can’t say I understand it, hopefully I’m showing respect for her work. And is it any weirder than making toy trains or planes that aren’t for playing with?