On the first of May, Alfie’s village celebrated with a traditional Maypole. The next day Alfie’s teacher asked him to draw the Maypole. He wasn’t keen, but complied by hastily drawing a pole with ribbons: here it is

However, Alfie much prefers working with blocks. Soon with no adult suggestion Alfie and his friend Philip were at work in the construction area, where they spent nearly an hour reconstructing the Maypole experience. When his father came to take him home, Alfie explained everything in detail, from the fact that the ribbons started half-way up the pole, to the people on the benches. Alfie pointed out, "That’s our family on this bench. See, it’s only three people because you were gone that day".

Alfie’s teacher learned so much about his thinking that day. She learned that Alfie is more fluent in the language of block play than he is in the language of mark-making. She learned that he is capable of amazing perseverance, concentration and care when he is motivated from within in contrast to when he is told what to do. Finally, she learned that he understands a lot about numbers: For example realising that his family consists of four people and that one missing makes three. She also witnessed tremendous creativity, imagination, planning, co-operation, and joy in life! What more could you wish for any child?

Whenever we bring out a new publication or training resource, we put a lot of care into the photos. A picture really is worth a thousand words. So when I was working on I made a unicorn and its accompanying PowerPoint, I asked our photographer Tricia to visit the nursery next door and see what she could capture. All the children there know Tricia and accept her presence without question. She’s good with the camera and the kids often don’t even realise she is photographing them. However, in this instance, Wanjin saw her focussing on his construction and exclaimed, “Oh! You like my jeep? I’ll show you my forklift! And my racing car! And my aeroplane!”

I love the way children’s personalities and fascinations are reflected in their play. I’ve known Wanjin all his life, and even as a baby he would make vehicle noises! As a three-year-old, he and his best friend Tommy were constructing tractors from hollow blocks. Here you see what he was doing at five. Anyone want to hazard a guess at what he’ll be doing as a teenager?

A child’s imagination is stronger than ours. Where we see a pile of blocks, they see a dream castle. Role play equipment is no different. While the kitchen is an important part of role play, PlayWorks is much more than another kitchen set. We asked Amy to put it through its paces for you because her imagination is certainly in full bloom!

It could be a kitchen or maybe a doctor's surgery.

Better yet a hairdresser’s or an office.

Entertainment time with a puppet show.

At the end of the day back home – and don’t forget to water the plants!

The PlayWorks Sussex set was used for all these configurations. We sprinkled PlayWorks with fairy dust so they transmogrify into almost anything you wish. Your role play area will never be the same.

My brother and I used to spend hours creating miniature worlds with whatever we could find. We’d take Mum’s plants off the window ledge to make a forest and act out various scenarios with little figures. I could really relate to Stevenson’s poem “The land of counterpane”! Later as a mother I watched my own children do the same. I wish now that I had recorded their conversations as they played. Sometimes they acted out stories they had heard and sometimes they made up their own. I have witnessed similar small world play in schools and nurseries, both indoors and out. It intrigues me – why do children seem universally drawn to such play?

Perhaps part of the answer is that in small world play, as in role play, children can re-live experiences and come to grips with whatever life is bringing their way.

Perhaps another part of the answer is that when children create these miniature worlds, they are the big people! That has all kinds of ramifications.

Yet another aspect is that in such play, as in fairy tales, imagination is the guide. I believe children’s imagination is one of their greatest strengths. I was thrilled to learn that Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge: “For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world.”

For more on small world play with blocks, watch the Foundations training video.

About ten or twelve years ago, an early years advisor told me there was a strong connection between block play and literacy. That seemed a little far-fetched. The only connection I could see was that both writing and block play require good hand-eye coordination and a certain amount of manual dexterity. However I began observing block play more closely. I noticed that children’s block play is often inspired by stories they have heard. A teacher in our local school observed: “I just told my Year Two class a fairy tale about a princess, knights and a dragon; now they are busy in the construction area building castles, knights and dragons.” After this, I started seeing numerous instances where children would go to the construction area after hearing a story and re-enact it with blocks.

My next realisation was really exciting. Writing is much more than a physical act of making marks on paper. Writing is a symbolic act! Whether someone is writing in English or Chinese, each of those squiggles on the paper represents a sound or an idea. Block play is also symbolic: when children construct with blocks they are representing ideas. Expressing ideas in concrete ways prepares children to symbolise ideas in abstract ways later. Think of block play as a language in which children weave elaborate narratives. It is a language in which boys in particular become amazingly fluent. The boy in this photo is Ian. He had rebuilt, in intricate detail, a map on the flyleaf of his favourite storybook. I asked Ian’s teacher Martha, “Could Ian have drawn that map with paper and pencil?” She replied that the pinnacle of Ian’s mark-making skills was drawing rainbows. Nothing more advanced than that. If Ian were not fluent in this language of blocks – if he did not have this medium in which to express his ideas – no one would have known that he had that map memorised!

I hope you are as excited by this as I am. It makes me realise how vital it is that we provide each child with a medium in which he or she feels at home. Then children can build their own strong foundation for future literacy.

When I was little my brothers and I used to transform our kitchen table into a den. My sister and I also used to turn our bunk-bed into a ship. A generation later, I watched my children finding or creating their own cosy spaces. Visiting nurseries in recent years, I often notice a lack of intimate corners into which children can withdraw from all the busy activity. Many rooms are full of cushions and equipment but there is nowhere for a child to have a little personal space. Some settings have found a way to provide such nooks, even if it is not much more than some material draped in a corner. But it is difficult for many because they are not allowed to attach anything to their walls. That's why we designed these new Cosy spaces. Some, like the Swallow's nest, have been figured out for you – but you can also take the panels, posts and arches and design your own cosy spaces for the children in your care. Have fun!

6 January is traditionally 'Three Kings Day' for many cultures. This year it came last Friday, and as I walked past our local nursery that morning, here's what I saw: The children had spontaneously built camels, which they mounted and rode (don't be scared – none of them fell off) singing 'We three kings of Orient are' at top volume! You can see how engrossed they were. I love how they use the hollow blocks for whatever they need at the moment – and they never run out of ideas.