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Home / Early Learning / Recreating Real Structures with Blocks

Recreating Real Structures with Blocks

Shared by Mary Catherine 8 Comments

preschool, kindergarten, building, America, White House, Congress, Capital, DC

We’re finishing up our mini-unit about America this week.  For our building center, Mary Poppins and I had the children use blocks to build their own versions of real structures.  Mary Poppins used Google Images to print out real photos of the White House, the Capital Building, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial.  We talked to the children about looking at the different shapes within each structure, then remaking those shapes using the blocks we have in the classroom. 

preschool, kindergarten, building, America, White House, Congress, Capital, DC

I was interested to see what the children would do with this prompt.  Most of them enjoy the building center, and we have a few who would gladly spend the entire school day just building various structures!  As I observed them, I noticed that the kids spent a lot of time on the base of each building they tried to make.  This may be because I’ve stressed having a solid foundation when building — usually in response to, “Ms. Mary Catherine, why does my building keep falling down?”

preschool, kindergarten, building, America, White House, Congress, Capital, DC

The kiddos did really well with this task, and most of them seemed to enjoy the process.  However, I noticed that a few were frustrated because of our lack of cylinder blocks.  Next time I try this, I am going to make sure we have an ample supply of materials that would work as rounded columns.  I’m thinking of using paper towel tubes and items along those lines.

preschool, kindergarten, building, America, White House, Congress, Capital, DC

Shared at Kids Activities Blog’s It’s Playtime, Sun Scholars’ For the Kids Friday, Live Life Intentionally’s TGIF Linky Party, Sugar Aunts’ Share It Saturday, Cheerios & Lattes’ Show & Tell Saturday, Train Up a Child’s Sunday Showcase, Discover and Explore

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Filed Under: Early Learning Tagged With: Block Center, Building

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  1. Trisha @ Inspiration Laboratories says

    March 1, 2013 at 10:59 am

    This is a wonderful idea. I love the problem solving skills being used!

    Reply
    • MaryC says

      March 1, 2013 at 12:35 pm

      Thanks! We’ll definitely be trying it again, just with more building options. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Susan Syddall says

    March 4, 2013 at 1:42 am

    This is a great idea. I’ll have to try it with my boys. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • MaryC says

      March 4, 2013 at 1:32 pm

      Thanks! Let me know how it goes. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Beth says

    March 7, 2013 at 9:28 pm

    What a fun activity!

    Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Hope to see you again tomorrow,
    Beth

    Reply
    • MaryC says

      March 7, 2013 at 9:48 pm

      Thank you! 🙂 I will definitely be popping by tomorrow.

      Reply
  4. Jacquie@KCEdventures says

    June 30, 2013 at 10:49 pm

    I love the connection with real structures! Thanks for linking up at Discover & Explore – we’re featuring you this week: http://www.kcedventures.com/blog/materials-for-building-kids-and-construction

    Reply
    • MaryC says

      July 1, 2013 at 8:04 am

      Thanks so much Jacquie! I’m excited to be featured. 🙂

      Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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