Traditional building blocks are no longer the only way for young learners to build masterpieces. Building projects come in all shapes and sizes. Read on for 20 activities to help your preschoolers develop an interest in building and engineering their own creations!
1. Building Letters
This is a fun activity to incorporate construction into literacy. Name a letter and have your students scavenge for small rocks and pebbles. Then have them build the letters with the rocks! This will help students build letter recognition and letter sounds.
Learn more: Childcareland
2. Magic Math Box
Want to use construction as a way to develop math skills? Look no further than this construction activity! You'll need a box, paper towel roll, and pom-poms. Watch the whole tutorial to see how you can build a device to help students love construction and math.
Learn more: Teacher Tidbits
3. Building Shapes
Grab some colored craft sticks and check out this simple building activity! Students can build shapes by placing the craft sticks down (print a reference sheet if necessary). This math activity will also help build hand-eye coordination.
Learn more: Ashu's World
4. Edible Structures
Time to finally play with your food! All you will need are food items that are around the house or classroom and toothpicks. While marshmallows are the most common, apples and cheddar cheese would work great for this building project as well. Show your kids that simple items can make a fun craft!
Learn more: Boston Children's Museum
5. Marble Run
This activity is not only a building project but also a game for preschoolers. Students use basic engineering skills to create this giant marble run. Take a piece of a paper town roll and a piece of tape. Attach the paper towel roll pieces and repeat to create a marble run. Kids will have so much fun building and using this marble run.
Learn more: Warren County Library
6. Egg Carton Pyramids
If you're looking for a fun building activity, look no further than the materials in your house. Cut up an egg carton into each individual egg hole. Then have your students paint each one a different color. Lastly, you can create fun building challenges with your egg carton creations. This is a great way to make a DIY non-LEGO building kit.
Learn more: The Pinterested Parent
7. Cardboard Cars
This cardboard building activity will take some time but will have a unique item that your children will cherish forever. Students will use a cardboard box as the base of the car and then cut out other pieces of cardboard for the parts of the car. You can have your students paint them in and enjoy the creation that they built themselves!
Learn more: Bobbie Skibo
8. Eiffel Tower
Your students can replicate an architectural wonder. For building supplies, your students will need newspaper, tape, and a stapler. You can discuss different building structures and how unique the Eiffel Tower is!
Learn more: KC Edventures
9. Building Bridges
Young learners can investigate the building process by building paper bridges. Students will need small blocks, construction paper, and an object to weigh the bridge down. You can have your students try out many different models to see which one holds the best.
Learn more: STEM Quick Wins
10. Homemade Catapult
If you're looking for an activity that could best be used outside on a field day, try this DIY catapult. Students will use critical thinking skills once that catapult has been built to see which catapult will fling the ball the furthest.
Learn more: Teach Beside Me
11. Three Little Pigs Building Project
Bring this favorite nursery rhyme to life! With straws, wood, and brick, students can test out the three little pigs' houses to see which one would outstand a big huff and puff!
Learn more: Teach Beside Me
12. LEGO Wall
The most popular building block can be used in a new way! With the purchase of LEGO tape, you can create a portion of your wall that is perfect for sticking LEGOs on and building outwards instead of upwards, allowing students to use creative thinking skills for a new creation!
Learn more: Teach Beside Me
13. Blueprint Making
Introduce students to blueprints and help them to design their own buildings. Afterward, students can even create building names!
Learn more: Playground Park Bench
14. Pendulum Play
Pendulums are necessary for construction and can be used to show how buildings are knocked out. Whether you have a tennis ball or a golf ball, this is a fun way to use household items to show how real engineers create space for new buildings.
Learn more: Cynical Parent
15. Building Christmas Trees
This is the perfect, calming construction activity for the holiday season. Use washers and bolts to build tiny homemade Christmas trees.
Learn more: Left Brain Craft Brain
16. Stick Cabin Engineering
For this cute outdoorsy craft, grab some sticks and play dough to create a wooden home. With very few building materials necessary, this is an easy at-home or at-school craft.
Learn more: The Pinterested Parent
17. Construction Hat
Students can get ready for any construction activity by making their very own construction hat first. Once finished, students can even decorate a one-of-a-kind construction masterpiece!
Learn more: Fun with Arko
18. Pipe Cleaner Longhouse
Pipe cleaner crafts are a favorite activity of preschoolers! Learn about different architectural styles of history such as the longhouse and have students build their own.
Learn more: eHowArtsAndCrafts
19. Paper Mache Earth
Paper mache is a unique building material for students to use! You can even create an Earth-themed center in your classroom and have this activity be the main event.
Learn more: The Purposeful Nest
20. Construction Playdough
Whether you want to make the color more realistic to construction materials or want to add actual sand or dirt to your playdough, this activity is for you. Follow these step-by-step instructions on how to customize your playdough for construction.
Learn more: Early Learning Ideas
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