By Ville Andersen, D.I.C.P. on the work of Margaret Lowenfeld

The first boxes of Poleidoblocs G and A were available for purchase from the beginning of 1958, and then only a small quantity. They were mostly acquired by Universities for research purposes in Great Britain and the U.S.A. and by Child Guidance Clinics. But from 1959 they began to find their way into British schools, teachers having in one way or another, often by chance, come to hear of their existence and wishing to try them out in their schools.

From 1968 Poleidoblocs were purchased and distributed over a large area of Great Britain, from Edinburgh to Sussex, from Essex to Bristol and Cheltenham. On several occasions we were asked to send samples of the boxes with display instructions to teachers’ study group meetings and on a few occasions we were asked to come and demonstrate the Poleidoblocs ourselves.

There were at that time no specific instructions as to the use of Poleidoblocs. Each purchaser experimented with them in his own way and for his own purpose, whether in research or teaching. When the grant from the British Association for the Advancement of Science was given at the end of 1960 for a two year period to introduce the material into British schools, it became necessary to work out a specific standard way of introducing the blocks to children and also a way of recording what was done, for later comparison and discussion.