

Build an inside hide-out from sheets, blankets, tables, and chairs.Assemble an outside fort with tires, hay bales, milk crates, and other large boxes.Yet, constructive play activities also include many other options.Įxpand construction play by inviting your child to experience one or more of the activities below. We tend to go straight to block play and traditional building sets when we think of construction play. Camera and sketching materials for documenting their creations.Wagons or buckets to move the materials around.Tools (i.e., measuring tape, clipboard, pencils, stapler, scissors, tape).Wood pieces (i.e., clean in a variety of shapes and sizes) and strong glue.Recycled materials (i.e., boxes, milk crates, mosaic tile pieces, clean PVC pipe pieces).Craft materials (i.e., buttons, googly eyes, popsicle sticks, string, sequins).Art materials (i.e., easels, brushes, paint, markers, crayons, chalk, paper).Natural materials (i.e., shells, leaves, bark, sticks, and stones).Loose materials (i.e., pieces of fabric, vinyl, ribbon, or balls of wool).Modeling materials (i.e., playdough or clay).Block props (i.e., vehicles, animals, people, signs, cogs, and wheels).All types of blocks in varying shapes, sizes, and materials.Keep developmental stages and choking hazards in mind when sourcing your materials. Where the kids control and determine how they are used to create something.Ĭontinually adding new and stimulating elements while removing others keeps it fresh and exciting. What’s important here is to supply a variety of materials that are open-ended with no specific outcome. For example, they can make a sandcastle, compose a sidewalk chalk mural, or build a city with blocks and loose parts.Ĭhildren learn through their interactions and experiences in the physical and social world.Ĭonstructive play is essential for young children. Kids build, stack, construct, and draw as they test various materials. They gather information, experiment, and questions while engaging in constructive play. Through construction play, children engage their imagination and creativity while sparking their curiosity.Ĭonstruction play is a form of hands-on inquiry where children, by nature, discover and explore things for themselves. The open-ended materials can take many forms, for example, playdough, sand, water, recycled materials, and all types of blocks for kids.


That kids are using materials to creatively and intentionally build something. Through constructive play, they get to see and feel things for themselves.Ī key component of constructive play is that it is open-ended. Nowhere is this transition more evident than during the stages of block play, from simply knowing how a block feels to building a basic tower. They have moved from exploring the materials to creating something. During construction play, their movements are more purposeful. This exploratory phase helps prepare them to begin constructing. Usually, this involves simple and repetitive actions, like banging blocks or moving blocks from place to place. Previously children have been through an exploratory phase using their senses for investigation and discovery. However, most important is that children are connecting and interacting with their environment.Ĭonstructive play typically starts around the age of two, when children can focus on one activity for extended periods. It involves various methods such as putting together, taking apart, stacking, molding, sorting, and more.

In other words, constructive play is creating and building with different types of materials. A constructive play definition- Also known as construction play, is about manipulating, shaping, or constructing something.
