More Activity Ideas
- Save empty cardboard tubes and boxes—they can be great building materials for your child. Have him use these materials to build different types of houses, apartments, skyscrapers, etc., like those he sees in the neighborhood and in other places.
- Go to the library with your child. Look for books about different structures, for example, Homes Around the World by Max Moore or Amazing Buildings by Kate Hayden. Learn about different structures and the materials they are made of.
- Point out and talk about different types of structures, such as roads, tunnels, and bridges, when you are out with your child. Encourage her to talk about the experience of going on, over, under, around, and through the structures.
- Go for a walk around your house or apartment. Have your child measure different building features, such as doors, cabinets, or floors. He can measure using a stick, blocks, or even his feet!
- Use building words, such as structure, shelter, balance, construct, carpenter, and tool, while exploring buildings. Write each word on an index card and have your child illustrate it. Put the cards in a box so she can pull them out again and again.
- Cut out paper shapes with your child. Encourage her to use the shapes to create 2-D structures. Have her talk about the various shapes as she used them in her structures. Ask her to compare them to shapes she has seen in buildings in the environment.
- Play a counting game with your child. Give clues to lead your child to a feature of your building. Then challenge him to count how many he can find. For example, You have to open one of these to get inside a room. They are rectangles. They have doorknobs. What are they? How many can you find in our house (apartment, etc.)?