Building block by block at Martin Avenue in North Bellmore

A thousand wooden blocks are turning out to be a simple, but valuable learning tool for students at Martin Avenue Elementary School in the North Bellmore School District. The school recently received a KEVA Maple Plank set which is inspiring students to imagine, converse and create.

Fifth grade teacher Ashley Vella gave her students their first opportunity to work with the KEVA Planks on Feb. 16. The large wooden box, filled to the top with the blocks, rolled into her classroom and students began building. They were encouraged to first build structures from the KEVA Maple challenge booklet to familiarize themselves with the planks before coming up with their own designs.

Vella said that building with KEVA Planks promotes many important skills like critical thinking, problem-solving and teamwork. She enjoyed watching her students share ideas as they built ramps, towers, pieces of furniture and more, and declared this endeavor a great success.

“It’s something different that really engages them,” Vella said. “This gives them the opportunity to work together and be innovative.”