Construction play

Construction play involves manipulating one or more pieces of play materials to create something new. This may involve a variety of methods – stacking, sticking, putting together, taking things apart, sorting or moulding, to name a few. Construction play develops all types of skills and behaviours;

• The motor skills necessary to create and manipulate the items

• Imagination skills

• Planning & ideation skills; the ability to try out and test ideas

• Perseverance when things don’t work • When working with others turn taking and collaboration skills

Activity ideas

• Give your child plenty of opportunity to play with construction toys; not just Duplo or building blocks but playdough and making things from everyday objects e.g. toilet roll tubes and shoe boxes.

• Build things with your child, talking to them all the time. Introduce them to new worlds through your imagination.

• Construct an obstacle course together using pillows, cushions and duvets.

• Putting together a train track.

• Making cars, rockets or houses out of cardboard boxes.

• Building sand castles.

• Building models with recycled materials.

• Add new materials to your child’s building block set- empty plastic tubs, pieces of fabric, balls of wool, shells, bottle tops, lengths of ribbon, stones etc.

• Make models from a cereal box or toilet roll tube adding lollipop sticks, buttons, googly eyes, string, sequins, felt tipped pens, tape, cotton wool, paint. Add new materials to playdough - matchsticks, lollipop sticks, googly eyes, buttons, sequins etc.

• Build a den from sheets, chairs, large boxes.