- blocks
- nonfiction books and photos of houses of all sizes and shapes
- plastic family figures
- compare
- explore
- family
MA Standards:
Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.
Head Start Outcomes:
Approaches to Learning/
Cooperation: Helps, shares, and cooperates in a group.
Social Emotional Development/
Social Relationships: The healthy relationships and interactions with adults and peers.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
Health Education 18: Talk about how people can be helpful/hurtful to one another.
Build a Family House
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Display photos of families inside and outside various types of houses. Ask children to describe how the houses are different sizes and shapes. Explain to children that they will be building a house out of blocks.
- Encourage children to work together. Have them talk about the shapes in the pictures and compare them to the block shapes. Then allow children to freely explore building with the blocks. Ask questions such as, Billie, how can you help Kamira make her house?
- Observe how children are using the building materials, what kinds of structures they are building, and how they are playing and working together.
- Once children have built their houses, encourage them to play with the plastic family figures in their houses.
Educator Tip: You may want to use a camera to record children working together. You can use these photos to help children adapt to being away from their family by telling children you will send the photos home so families can see what they are creating in school.
English Language Learners: Help children understand the meaning of the word compare. Hold up two different blocks and tell children you are going to compare the two blocks with them. Discuss similarities and differences. Say, Let's compare the size (shape, material, etc.) of the two blocks. Continue to compare other objects. Reinforce the word compare and use it as often as possible in your descriptions.