It does delight me when a child begins to recognise the world around them. Toys, stories, dressing up clothes and games are some of the best ways children learn about the outside world and it’s a great way for them to express themselves.
A friend’s son has recently gone, (in her own words) building barmy! Everything is about building – whether it’s roads or buildings, dress up or dinner he’s got building on the brain!
So I decided to have a look through the what2buy4kids shelves and had wonderful fun constructing a day in the life of a builder for him. I thought I’d share it with you too, so you can inspire your little builders with these building-themed games and ideas.
A builders breakfast!
Let’s start the day right with a healthy breakfast served on this fabulous working wheels dinner set. This range by Tyrrell Katz also has snack boxes, bags and towels in the same design.
Over breakfast, you might like to talk to your budding builder about healthy foods to make them healthy and strong. Mr Men do a fab Mr Strong Grow Your Own Spinach kit – a lovely way to get kids involved with where food comes from and how it helps us develop.
What do builders wear?
This fab builders outfit will really get your kids in the mood. It comes with everything our little construction workers need for a day on the building site, including a high-vis vest, safety goggles and hard hat – builder dressing up set.
When children dress up, they really get into character and act our a range of different scenarios. You could extend you child’s learning by discussing the safety issues involved in construction sites and why builders wear hard hats and high-vis jackets.
Now, it’s off to work
How will you get there? I love this jigsaw road map from Orchard. This giant puzzle offers hours of fun. Our builders need to put the jigsaw together before playing on it – and the roads and buildings offer lots of inspiration for independent and imaginative play. The addition of wooden blocks will encourage kids to construct houses, buildings and even bridges – in fact a whole town or village if they so choose!!!
You might like to add in this big truck building set. Made from chunky wood, it’s a vehicle and a construction set in one. Kids love to push the vehicle around and the 22 wooden building pieces mean they can create lots of different structures. (Suitable for kids 3 and over).
Kids might also enjoy the Interstar wheel kit – a vibrant collection of pieces that are perfect for building super speedy vehicles.
And for tiny tots these Baby Connects are a great introduction to construction toys. These are suitable for children over 12 months.
All these toys develop fine motor skills. If you want to get involved, build on counting, colours and directional awareness. “Where’s the red block?”, “Can you find me three blue bricks please?”, “Does this go on the left or the right?” – I’m sure you get the idea! We’re looking for questions that empower independent thinking and creativity. Adapt to the right level for your child. You’ll quickly get a sense of what they can manage and will intuitively pick up when learning can be stretched.
The builder’s den
A builders hut pop up play tent adds another dimension to the day. With this builder’s hut or workmen’s garage, role play really kicks in and your kids will begin to develop and explore their personality and identity.
Many parents choose to leave their children to play independently here, ensuring this time is uninhibited. If you spot an ideal time to intervene, add to the conversion, extend thinking or introduce a new toy or skill to the moment.
Play dough is always a great option as it’s so versatile – you can build bricks, houses, bridges…all sorts! Pipe cleaners are a great prop to add into the mix.
Time to unwind!
To finish off a busy day of building, a nice warm bath complete with building toys and this builder’s bath towel will finish off the day perfectly!
I love this super-interactive traffic fun bath toy – the foam pieces stick to any smooth, wet surface and can be used to create lots of different traffic scenes.
Have your kids gone building barmy? I’d love to hear how you create building-themed games for your kids. Let me know in the comments.
Article By Lisa Bradburn
Lisa is the managing director of what2buy4kids. Lisa’s wish is to make your job of finding a gift for the children in your life easier, or help you to take some of the time and frustration out of the search for that special gift for kids.
You can follow her on Twitter @what2buy4kids and Facebook
at facebook.com/What2Buy4Kids