Blocks & STEM Center... Building Pet Homes (a FREEBIE)

Blocks! It is one of my favorite centers! Students can be creative and express their ideas and feelings through block building. Creating with blocks can build oral language and vocabulary! Not to mention ALL the math, STEM and science that is happening when students are building too. Students can build at their own level. And my favorite part: ALL students can be successful!

In this post, you will see how I support students in the center. For each theme I do, I change my blocks bulletin board. I put up pictures and/or photographs to support our new theme. It helps students to visually see a model of what they want to build. It also challenges them to build something new related to our theme. Click HERE to get your own set of FREE Pet Homes STEM Posters for your blocks center!

Here is a picture of the STEM challenge display I created in the blocks center:

I am always adding new materials for students to build with besides blocks. Doesn’t this shelf look inviting?!

When creating my weekly lesson plans, I add what new material(s) I will add to the blocks center each week to ensure I am creating meaningful and inviting experiences for students.

Don’t forget to add non-fiction books on your theme to the center! Students can use the books as a reference when they are building. You may need to model using the books when building with students in the center at first. After the students see how helpful the books to reference when building, they will grab the books right off the shelf themselves! It is awesome to see kids using books to support their own learning!

Try adding new and interesting material to the blocks center that is related to the theme. The Dollar Tree and the Target Dollar Spot is a great place to find materials! It is where I get most of my materials from.