Change the dramatic play center into a Construction Site for a construction theme! Your Preschool, Pre-k, or Kindergarten kiddos will go CRAZY for this theme and learn a ton. It’s super easy to sneak in tons of literacy, math, and STEM into their play too. If you would like all the Construction Site Dramatic Play printables you can grab them HERE.
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First, before you check out my construction site, I want you to know that this is what it looked like at the END of the unit. I slowly add new props each week or every few days as their play progresses. I do this for two reasons: 1. Students can learn how to use the props appropriately 2. The theme stays new and exciting!
The shelf on the left is where all the building materials are kept. The wood is just a 2×4 cut up and sanded from Loews. The cardboard is pieces of cardboard which students use mostly for floors, ceilings, and roofs. There are also “blueprints” and inspection reports (my sneaky way to get students reading and writing during play).
The shelf on the right has all the tools, water jugs, and lunch goodies. Everything is labeled so students can easily get what they need and clean up independently.
Every construction site has diggers so make a dig site! Cover the floor and wall with brown butcher paper or brown wrapping paper. Then dump about a half of a bag of rubber mulch on paper. The paper is a visual to help students keep the mulch contained. Add in a few diggers and the dig site is ready! If the paper rips (mine did a bit), just tape the rips with clear packing tape.
Take a Break
Construction workers word hard so they need to drink lots of water. I made this water jug by covering an empty cheese ball container with yellow Duck Tape and hot gluing a pipe to the front for a spout.
Lunch Break! Place some plastic food, empty drink containers, and lunch boxes so students can pretend to eat lunch at the construction site.
To sneak in STEM, problem solving, and critical thinking set up an Architect desk! Place some construction pencils, blueprint paper, parts of a building poster, and models of various kinds of building to support your little architects. Remember if you have 3-year-olds they will most likely scribble, but that’s an important step of writing too! I put a magnet board behind the table so students can post their blueprints for others to use.
Time to Build!
Students can build anything they want at the construction site: houses, skyscrapers, bridges, hospitals, roads, apartments, stadiums, or stores. Add blueprints to spark their imagination and get those ideas flowing!
Add measuring tapes and measuring sticks so students can measure their structures during play. Students will be counting, comparing, measuring, and use tons of math vocabulary as they measure.
If you would like all the Construction Site Dramatic Play printables you can grab them HERE.
Now that you want to create a Construction Site in the dramatic play center CLICK HERE to check out all my favorite Construction themed centers and activities to take the construction theme ALL over the classroom.
If you need books for a construction theme, Here’s a list of my favorites for you! CLICK HERE to check out my favorite construction themed books for little learners.
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