Job Blocks

Product Description

Social/Emotional 5

Skills

• Incorporation of the development of turn taking can be included with building of characters, or in the Q&A optional portion of the game. 
• Opportunity for self-esteem development through exploration of child’s future career aspirations and goals vis-a-vis the Job Blocks characters.
• Opportunity to enhance communication skills with others through development of questions and answers related to to Job Blocks’ characteristics.

Play Ideas

• Use Job Blocks with peers and pair with costumes to role play duties for each profession.
• To develop social skills, play a game of news reporter. The young player asks questions of the Job Blocks characters, and the facilitator plays the role of the built Job Block character to answer the question. A peer or family member can play the role of videographer or photographer to record the interview. 

Adaptation Ideas

• Limit the number of Job Blocks characters available at one time in order to limit distractions and improve frustration tolerance.

Communicative 5

Skills

• Job Blocks promote vocabulary development through child or caregiver identifying characters, their professional traits and exploration of work environment.
• Job Blocks promote expressive and receptive language development occurs with question and answer game relating to Job Blocks’ professional job traits and work environments.
• By acting out Job Blocks job duties, players practice verbal and non-verbal communication skills with playmates or facilitator.

Play Ideas

• To strengthen expressive language skills, instruct the child to direct caregiver to assemble the Job Blocks characters using verbal and physical cues.  
• To strengthen expressive language skills, direct child to create a Job Blocks-related picture story or mural with images or illustrations he / she clips from magazines or online.

Cognitive 4

Skills

• Building of characters with Job Blocks provides opportunity to develop understanding of sequencing and part-to-whole relationship to create a complete, recognizable object.
• Job Blocks promote the development of symbolic understanding between inanimate items representative of actual people and professions. 
• Job Blocks promote the development of transition from imaginary- to reality-based thinking through discussion of the Job Blocks characters’ work environments, duties, and expectations.

Play Ideas

• To enhance the comprehension of the Job Blocks professions, together, facilitator and participant will read books or stories that feature the Job Blocks’ professions and the participant can use the Job Block character to act out and mirror the story.
• To facilitate the understanding of sorting and classification, place the Job Blocks’ scenic background cards on a play surface and label each. Proceed to place all Job Block pieces in an opaque bag, and instruct player to pull out pieces one-by-one and place on the matching card in order to build each character when all the character’s pieces have been retrieved.

Adaptation Ideas

• Limit the number of character building blocks available at one time to lessen character attribute discrimination choices. 
• Eliminate or limit the number of questions asked of the child with regard to the characters’ jobs. 
• Provide pictures of completed characters for the child to assemble and match.

Physical 4

Skills

• Picking up building blocks from flat surface promotes arm movement and wrist rotation.
• Assembly of the characters provides hand fine motor skill development by snapping together building block pieces with hands and fingers.
• Assembly / Disassembly of the characters provides finger / hand / arm strength building opportunities by the pressing together and pulling apart of the building block pieces.
• Assembly of the characters provides hand-eye coordination by aligning “pegs” of a block with the “holes” of the adjoining block while snapping them together.

Play Ideas

• Sort the Job Blocks characters’ components into distinct piles. Challenge the player to close his / her eyes and assemble the Job Blocks by only utilizing touch, thereby having to rely on the feel of the pegs and holes to align and snap together.
• To strengthen grip and grasp, instruct player to assemble and disassemble Job Blocks characters while submerged in water, sand or “slime”.

Adaptation Ideas

• Utilize playdoh on play surface on which to build characters from the base to provide more foundational stability.
• Adhere velcro or other tacky material to building blocks for easier physical “handling” of blocks for children with limited grasp skills.