- blocks
- cardboard boxes
- children’s blueprints
- photos and blueprints hung on the wall
- toy hard hats
- build
- blueprint
- structure
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Language/L.PK.MA.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, listening to books read aloud, activities, and play.English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.Mathematics/Geometry/PK.G.MA.3 Create and represent three-dimensional shapes (ball/sphere, square box/cube, tube/cylinder) using various manipulative materials (such as popsicle sticks, blocks, pipe cleaners, pattern blocks).
Head Start Outcomes:
Logic and Reasoning/Reasoning and Problem Solving Classifies, compares, and contrasts objects, events, and experiences.Science Knowledge/Scientific Skills and Method Observes and discusses common properties, differences, and comparisons among objects.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
Science and Technology/Technology and Engineering 233 Explore and describe a wide variety of natural and man-made materials through sensory experiences.English Language Arts/Language 2 Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Building from Blueprints
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Skill Focus: Hand-Eye Coordination, Spatial Relationships, Vocabulary
Educator Prep: Make very simple blueprint drawings that children can use to recreate structures. Hang them at eye level. Include any blueprints children have completed themselves.
Have children use their blueprint or choose one of the blueprints in the Block Center. Tell them you want them to use the blueprint to build the structure out of blocks. Explain that the blueprints show how many blocks to use, so they may want to have one child be the builder who builds the structure and another child be the architect who reads the blueprint and tells the builder how many blocks to use. Encourage children to discuss how to make the parts of the house strong.
Point to the props and say, Don’t forget about safety at a building site. Put on your hard hats before you begin!