Our Vision
At Yay4Play, we are committed to igniting a lifelong passion for learning through the transformative power of play and by relying on Six Bricks pedagogy.
Our mission is to provide accessible and innovative educational resources and dynamic learning experiences that empower educators, caregivers, and parents to nurture the holistic growth of children.
We aim to foster their physical, social, emotional skills, and cognitive development. With the Six Bricks methodology, we envision a world where playful learning is integral to every child's educational journey so that they are ready for ongoing success at school.
We are committed to re-imagining learning!
What is Six Bricks?
The Six Bricks methodology is a revolutionary educational approach that emphasizes hands-on, experiential learning.
This method encourages children to use six DUPLO® type bricks in 6 bright colours to explore concepts such as shapes, colours, numbers, and patterns through play.
Activities are designed to support various aspects of child development as part of the school day, including cognitive, social, emotional skills, physical skills and mathematical skills.
The method was originally developed in South Africa by Brent Hutcheson and the team at Care for Education. They saw the immense value in using an affordable set of manipulatives to develop a whole range of critical skills such as social skills and motor skills.
That's besides the other development areas that are easily covered such as problem-solving skills and spatial skills.
Six Bricks Basics
These short, daily activities are designed to engage children in fun and playful activities.
The versatility and durability of these bricks make them an ideal tool for a wide range of educational activities. They fit easily into the curriculum and also form the basis for ongoing development of skills for school success.
This amazing resource is even more important as part of a strong pedagogical approach because children are having so much fun, they don't realise how much they are learning.
There are approximately 100+ activities and more are being invented all the time to create a rich learning experience for all children.
Here are the core elements of the Six Bricks methodology:
Hands-On Learning
- The Six Bricks methodology places a strong emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning. Children use these concrete tools to explore and understand various concepts, such as shapes, colours, numbers, and patterns.
- This tactile approach enhances their learning experience and helps them retain information more effectively. This is the key ingredient of this perfect resource! I don't know of any other method that does as much as this in such a cost effective way!
Structured Play
- These bricks resources are about using children's imagination - and at the same time the activities are structured so that children are able to gain spatial reasoning skills and perceptual skills.
- Structured play is a key component of the Six Bricks methodology. While children are encouraged to use their imagination and creativity, the activities are carefully designed to help them develop important skills such as spatial reasoning and perceptual skills.
- Through these game activities, children are provided with specific tasks and challenges that require them to think critically and problem solve - all core skills that boost aspects of child development.
- They are encouraged to manipulate the bricks in different ways to create structures, patterns, and designs.
- This not only enhances their spatial reasoning abilities, but also helps them develop an understanding of shapes, sizes, and proportions.
- By engaging in structured play with these hundreds of activities, children are also developing their perceptual skills. They learn to observe and identify patterns, recognize similarities and differences, and make connections between different elements.
Multi-Sensory Learning
- The Six Bricks methodology incorporates multiple senses, including touch, sight, and even sound, as children manipulate the bricks.
- This multi-sensory approach enhances the learning experience and helps children develop a deeper understanding of the concepts being taught. It's all part of the core learning skills that boost the holistic development of every child - no matter their level of ability.
- This extensive range of activities can be used as a quiet time activity for children who need to step out when the class becomes too noisy or chaotic for them.
Social Interaction
- Six Bricks activities can be conducted individually or in groups, promoting social interaction and collaboration among children. This social aspect of learning helps children develop important communication and teamwork skills.
- Furthermore, the structured play activities foster important social skills. Children have the opportunity to work collaboratively, communicate their ideas, and share their creations with others.
- The activities can be adjusted to all levels of development and given that it is such an affordable resource there are so many options across the age groups.
Curriculum Integration
- Six Bricks activities can be seamlessly integrated into the early childhood education and primary school curriculum to support various aspects of child development.
- The activities are designed to enhance cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills, making them a valuable addition to any educational program.
- Childhood educators are particularly passionate about ensuring that children develop maths concepts such as the concept of subtraction as well as language learning including positional language - all through this powerful teaching tool.
What We Do
Professional Development for Educators and Teachers
We offer comprehensive training programs for educators and teachers to help them effectively implement the Six Bricks approach in their classrooms. Our training programs include:
- Professional Development (Online and On-Site): We provide NESA accredited training and ongoing support to help educators master the Six Bricks methodology. Our highly interactive web-based course helps you to apply these amazing learning opportunities in your own class. Teachers also receive a certificate of completion.
- Introduction to Six Bricks: We offer online chats to familiarize educators with the basics of this powerful teaching tool that they can use as part of their early childhood education curriculum to enable them to achieve the curriculum learning outcomes on a national or on a State level.
- Sets of physical tools: We provide Packs of Bricks to suit the size of your class. We also have printed mats and other resources to use in your class and to create an engaging learning environment.
Suitable for Various Educational Settings
Our Six Bricks training programs and interactive learning modules are suitable for a wide range of educational settings, including:
- Early childhood education
- Primary education
- Special education including for autistic children
- Preschool education
- After School Care
Quick Activities with Six Bricks
We offer a variety of quick activities that educators can use in their early learning centres or Primary schools to get started with in order to achieve key learning outcomes.
These activities are designed to be easy to implement and highly engaging for children. Incorporate these activities to enhance your teaching and ensure that your children gain lifelong learning skills.
The can be done individually, in small groups or as an activity in pairs. These hands-on tools are also an ideal way to cement concepts such as mathematical concepts - for example, differences in shape or anything that forms part of the infant mathematics curriculum.
Feedback from teachers has been that they quickly see a real boost to improved visual memory skills, the ability to create brick sequences and even improved language functions.
The Power of Play
Explore
Join us on an engaging journey where you'll explore educational games through play. Our self-paced online course introduces various activities using manipulatives to make learning math enjoyable and interactive.
You also have access to our online Idea Centre which has a large bank of ideas for your creative educational team.
Develop
Through play, children develop essential skills such as teamwork, creativity, clear communication, and problem-solving, all while having fun with Six Bricks.
Visual
Six Bricks enables active participation among children and helps educators visually assess their understanding of the content, making it a powerful teaching tool.
Versatile
Whether you're an early childhood educator or work in another educational setting, this course provides practical insights and knowledge for incorporating play-based learning effectively.
Connect
Join a collaborative community of educators where you can share insights, exchange ideas, and discover best practices together. Build a network of like-minded professionals dedicated to enhancing education through the magic of Six Bricks.
Join Us
Join us in discovering the joy of learning through the power of play!
- Visit our website to learn more about how you can get trained: https://www.yay4play.com/pages/six-bricks-learning
- Here is more information about our bricks materials: https://www.yay4play.com/pages/school-learning-resources
Join us in this exciting journey to revolutionize early childhood education through the power of play. Let's make learning an enjoyable and impactful experience for every child!