If you’ve ever watched your toddler building a tower out of bricks, you’ll know that construction is an activity that can really engage preschoolers. But there’s no need to shell out for expensive Lego sets or other construction toys: instead, you can support your child to build and create using whatever objects you already have at home.
Here at All About Children, we empower our children to take control and let them follow their own imagination and interests in their play. We have a whole range of objects in our collection, from cardboard rolls to offcuts of wood, which children can use to construct absolutely anything, from castles to cars.
Skills developed during constructive activities and play
When they are busy building something new, children are also developing important skills:
- Manual dexterity. Picking up bricks and other small parts helps children practice their fine motor skills
- Problem solving. Why does that big block fall off the circular shape? What happens if you swap them round? Construction is a natural way for children to test out their ideas
- Collaboration. A big building project can be an ideal way for toddlers and preschoolers to work together
- Maths skills. Children begin to understand spatial relationships such as under, behind, next to, above
- Imaginative play. That pile of recycling can be turned into another world, through the power of a child’s imagination.
Ideas for construction activities at home
Constructive play is something that the whole family can get involved in at home.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Save items from your recycling bin to build up a collection of construction materials. Cereal boxes, plastic bottles and cardboard rolls are all versatile objects that can be reused
- See what else you have lying around that could be repurposed for a construction project. Milk crates and flower pots have lots of potential.
- Do you have a big cardboard box? Turn it into a house, a car, a boat or even a time machine!
- Take photos of what your child builds and use them to create a story book based on their creations. You can sit together and tell the story.
Contact us
At All About Children we take a Curiosity Approach to constructive play. For more information about our nursery, contact us today.