Building blocks for construction games for preschoolers

From Blocks to Big Ideas: Inside the Construction Area in Childcare and Their Bright Games!

Overview

If you step into any quality childcare setting, you’ll likely find a unique and vibrant hub of collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking: the construction area.

This area isn’t solely for stacking blocks; it’s a dynamic section where kids, armed with imagination, can transform a variety of building block sets into towering castles, bustling cities, and more.

While the construction area may not look like much at first glance, it offers some of the most notable benefits for early childhood cognitive development. Building blocks specifically designed for construction-related activities aid in this department. Let’s take a closer look.

1. Development of Fine Motor Skills

The manipulation of building blocks in a construction area is a perfect exercise for your kid’s fine motor skills since building blocks come in many different shapes and sizes. The grasping, lifting, and arranging of building blocks strengthen their small muscles in their fingers and hands, providing the dexterity required for other tasks as they develop. Manipulating big blocks also helps with gross motor skills development. 

2. Development of Hand-Eye Coordination

As kids engage in construction activities, they must visually assess where blocks need to go and then guide them accordingly with their hands. The constant feedback loops between their hands and eyes are critical for development.

3. Development of Problem-Solving Skills

Construction tasks present endless challenges. Towers can fall and bridges can fail to connect. What’s more, the final site may fail to look as envisioned. The setbacks presented by the construction area offer an opportunity for developing logical reasoning, critical thinking, and emotional resilience, which are critical skills needed in life.

4. Language Development

The construction area also offers a rich context for language development. As kids build, they naturally discuss their creations using descriptive language and action words. Additionally, they’ll negotiate roles, engage in collaborative conversations, and resolve conflicts. Besides improving their communication skills, the interactions will also expand their vocabulary and teach expression.

5. Development of Mathematical Skills

The construction area is also perfect for teaching fundamental math concepts. To create cities and towers, kids must learn how to count, sort, measure, and estimate. They’ll also learn spatial awareness/reasoning and basic geometrical building concepts like balance, scale, and symmetry as they design and build.

Quick Construction Play Examples You Can Implement

From the above main benefits, it’s clear that simple building blocks come with crucial developmental benefits. Let’s shift our focus to how piles of building blocks for kids can lead to big ideas and brighter futures!

1. The “Big/Tall Tower” Challenge

When most people think of kids and construction projects, tall/big towers come to mind. Preschoolers can be challenged to build the tallest and most stable tower using construction blocks. This idea can be explored individually or in small groups.

The tall/big tower challenge comes with notable child development benefits like developing spatial reasoning and problem-solving skills. To construct tall building structures successfully, kids must begin by building strong foundations (wide and stable bases), then experiment with block arrangements and learn about balance and weight distribution while at it (when the tower falls).

Get big building blocks perfect for the big/tall tower challenge from Bright Day Big Blocks.

2. “Color Sorting and Building” Race/Challenge

Building blocks that come in a variety of colors and shapes can offer fun sorting and building experiences for kids. Simply lay out the variety of colored blocks and sorting containers, which can be baskets or bins with matching colors.

This is a perfect group activity as the children can race to sort all the building blocks by color and build a structure.

Construction games for preschoolers

This idea is perfect for developing math, color recognition/differentiation/classification, and related skills. The building part challenges kids to be creative, using the limited blocks they have, fostering innovative thinking in the process.

Get color-theme-based building blocks for kids here.

3. “Build an Entire City” Challenge

With a large collection of building blocks of varying shapes and sizes, it is possible to engage preschoolers to collaboratively build an entire city, complete with tall buildings, roads, cars, houses, and more.

This is undoubtedly the ultimate construction space challenge for developing collaborative and social skills. This challenge requires kids to come up with ideas, share them, and negotiate roles. They must learn teamwork and other important skills, like conflict resolution should these arise.

Explore special building blocks (builder’s space) perfect for this challenge.

4. Big Block Obstacle Playground Challenge

For active indoor and outdoor play, a playground with big blocks can come in handy for fun play activities like climbing, jumping, tumbling, and more.

Kids playing construction games for preschoolers

As the name suggests, you need big block pieces in a variety of shapes for specialized play. Teachers and children can find many ways of engaging, including creating obstacle courses. Besides exercise, this activity also boosts critical thinking, teamwork, and more.

Find the perfect big block pieces for this challenge.

Final Thoughts

There you go! Building blocks are unmatched when compared to conventional toys. The early childhood development benefits alone stand out thanks to the fact that they provide play-based learning. However, to execute perfectly, you need building blocks renowned for quality, variety, and durability.

Our Bright Day Building Blocks are renowned in this regard. Get their best EVA-foam building blocks for construction and related activities for kids.

Explore our product catalogue to see building block varieties and other construction materials for kids. Call: +1 (818) 914-6541 for more information on construction toys for kids. Also, check online (Instagram) to see the building blocks in use first-hand.

Find out more about functional play, imaginative play, sensory play, cardboard blocks, magnetic construction blocks, storage units for blocks, wooden block play, and more on construction-themed pretend play for kids.