The Huffington Post – Dr. Rebecca Palacios
“Sometimes, as I showed my 4-year-old students some new materials to work with (which teachers call manipulatives), they would ask me, “What does it DO?” This question would make me think twice about what people give children to play with: Too often it’s toys and manipulatives that are designed to “do” something interesting, but not to require the child to “do” very much at all! My favorite choices for manipulatives have always been materials that teachers call open-ended. These are materials that require children to think and construct for themselves. Examples are blocks, geometric shapes, play dough, paint and other materials that allow for creating or building without a lot of instructions or guidance.”(more)