What do your preschoolers and Miley Cyrus have in common? They both come in like a wrecking ball. If that’s the case, give them a purposeful reason to build and destroy with these construction activities for preschoolers in your math centers!
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Construction Lesson Plans
Load the Dump Truck
Construction Counting Sensory Bin
Construction-themed activities lend themselves to loads of fun and loads of learning.
For our first construction activity, we’re calling in the big equipment to help us work on color identification, number recognition, and counting!
This counting sensory bin invites your tots to help load up the dump trucks by following the amounts listed on the counting cards.
Load ‘em up and watch your students’ number sense come to life right before your eyes!
Materials:
- Load the Dump Truck
- sensory bin filled with small rocks (Dollar Tree)
- excavators (Dollar Tree)
- small boxes or tubs (Dollar Tree)
Board measure
Math Construction Activities for Preschoolers
As the saying goes, “Measure twice and cut once.”
And while I don’t always follow that advice, I am here to share that our Board Measure activity creates many opportunities for your tots to measure and make ten!
Your students will use the 10-inch board and nail ruler to measure, count, and practice their number sense skills.
By finding two smaller boards equal to the length of the 10-inch board, your preschoolers can practice visual perception, non-standard measurement, counting, and making 10.
After your preschoolers find two boards that equal the 10-inch board, they can use their recording sheet to reinforce that there are multiple ways you can make ten.
Materials:
- Board Measure
- Optional: tape measure
Count & Wreck
Counting Construction Activity
If you’re an HGTV fan like me, you know that demo day is made to look quick, glamorous, and by far the easiest day of the entire process.
I still think the verdict may be out on all of the above. However, I do believe that demo day gets its ever-popular reputation from the thrill of swinging a hammer, knocking things down, and being more destructive than is *usually* acceptable.
Would you believe me if I told you a demo-inspired activity would be a great addition to your construction-themed math centers?
Well, even if you don’t believe me, you just have to trust me! This Count & Wreck activity gives your students the opportunity to practice counting while building block towers.
Then (you guessed it!) they will knock the tower down with the wrecking ball before building the next.
Materials:
- Count & Wreck Construction Math Activity
- PVC pipes, table, or desk (to hang wrecking ball)
- linking chains
- rubber bands
- tennis ball
- blocks
Nail the Pattern
Math Construction Activities for Preschoolers
In contrast to our math center focused on demolition, our Nail the Pattern activity encourages toddlers to follow a pattern and control their swing.
Gather some spare egg cartons, golf tees, and the printable pattern cards.
Once your station is set up, your toddlers will use their hammers to follow the pattern on the pattern card by nailing the golf tees into the egg carton.
It’s the perfect mix of fine motor and math skills in one engaging math center!
Materials:
- Nail the Pattern cards
- cardboard egg cartons
- colored golf tees or golf tees with stickers on top
- wooden hammers
2D Shape Construction
Construction Math Activity
There’s something so striking about preschoolers’ imaginations. They think of, dream up, and build some of the most creative things, usually with little guidance.
It’s no secret that I love fostering those creative preschool minds. I’m happy to share that this 2D shape construction activity is perfect for students who love to create!
Each printable construction card features a different shape crafted out of roads and mini cones. As your students create each shape, their counting and visual perception skills will be put to work!
You can easily differentiate and extend this activity by introducing early geometry terms to your students as they construct each shape.
Materials:
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MORE Construction Activities for Preschoolers
Just like that, we’ve built our toddlers’ math skills while they thought it was just another day hard at work on the construction site. Snag these construction activities today and watch your work site (classroom) come to life right before your eyes!
