Building
Blueprint Project
I had the idea for this ages ago but knew that my son wasn’t ready for it. I am so glad I waited. We have been taking him to open houses lately, and talking about how houses are built , floor plans etc.. for a few weeks so this was the perfect time to become architects ourselves and make some blue prints! I helped a lot with this craft but older children ( 5 +) would have no problem doing it independently. Toddlers would likely get frustrated, so here is a great alternative for them Shape House.
- Gather your materials. You will need a white wax crayon ( yellow will do in a pinch), some white paper, blue paint and some sponge brushes or rollers. The sponge brushes really ensure that there isn’t too much paint which makes all the difference!
- Start by drawing your house with the white crayon, pressing hard. My son wanted me to draw the “real picture of the house” meaning the outside , I made him a deal that if I did the outside he’d have to do the inside.
- For the inside if your child is like mine and still too young to make things exactly how they want them but old enough to get upset if they aren’t perfect help them make the floor plan. How we did it was I put one finger at the starting pint of each wall, and one at the end point and he drew the lines. He eventually felt confident enough to do a few all by himself.
- Next decide which rooms should be which- this was probably my son’s favorite part ( well until he started painting), he went on and on about if they needed a bedroom more than a garage. Bedroom won out, maybe our next house will have a garage !
- Label them.
- Time to paint. I thinned the paint just a tiny bit with water.
- Roll it on!
- Sometimes you need to blot with these types of paintings if the paint glops on too heavy, we didn’t this time but grab a paper towel if you do and gently wipe.
- Let dry. Grab some lego or other blocks and build the house
Song
This is the way we pound our nails,
pound our nails, pound our nails,
This is the way we pound our nails, so early in the morning.
This is the way we turn the screw,
Turn the screw, turn the screw
This is the way we turn the screw, so early in the morning.
This is the way we saw the wood
saw the wood, saw the wood,
This is the way we saw the wood, so early in the morning!
This is the way we build a house,
build a house, build a house.
This is the way we build a house so early in the morning!
Books
by Byron Barton is a no frills look at how homes are built. The bright colors and concise wording is perfect for toddlers and young preschoolers. I love that there is writing on one page and illustrations on the other, makes it super easy to show children the pictures as well as for them to see you follow the text with your finger! My son started enjoying this book well before age 2 and still grabs it for me to read at three and a half although seems to yearn for more details than this simple book provides.
by Elisha Cooper is a really stunning book. The story itself is really detailed and although he sat for the whole thing my son’s attention was thinning out at parts, I edited the text a little but we got through it. There is nothing wrong with this book, its just too long and detailed for the average 3 year old. A keen 4 year old or 5 year old would totally dig it though. The illustrations are watercolors and so beautiful, but are not detailed like the text. Visually they are beautiful, but my son wanted to know why no one had faces. If you are learning about or interested in the process of construction from start to finish this is a wonderful book to read.
by Gail Gibbons is the happy medium for my son of these two other books, while one was a little too simple, the other a little too detailed, this one was just right for his attention span and need for details. In this book readers are taken from the architect’s desk to the day the family moves in with just the right amount of detail about all the intermediate steps. Each worker and what they contribute to building a house is explained briefly, from the laying of the foundation, the carpenters who frame the house and even the landscapers who lay the sod. If you have a little builder in your house they will love reading about the steps and many people who help build a house.
House h 
This week’s letter of the week craft is fun but be prepared to use paper that matches your house. I had red paper all ready, my h was written out and I hear from across the table ” I want a white house, our house isn’t red mama it’s white!” he was right, our house is white so we started over, I took new materials pictures and we were all set.
- Gather your materials. You will need 3 colors of construction paper, some markers( crayons will be fine too!), glue, and scissors.
- Start by writing a lowercase h on your paper.
- Have your child decorate it anyway they want. My son is starting to show interest in writing and has been tracing the letters lately when we make these crafts then pronounces he’s ready for the next step. I just sit back and watch , loving how this came about so naturally.
- Ask how many windows they want and cut them out ( I added crossbars) , also cut o.ut a roof and the top of a chimney.
- Cut the h out and glue it on a contrasting sheet of paper.
- Time to add the glue for the house pieces!
- Add the roof.
- Add the windows and chimney topper.
- Let dry.
Books
Building a House
A House for Hermit Crab 
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The idea for this building came from my daily helping of “Mama, build city wit me?” my son builds cities to go with his collection of cars daily, so I capitalized on this love and made it into a shape matching lesson. You can drop the shapes and just decorate the carton if free art is what you need for the day, I know we will be repeating this with plain paper shapes that he can paste wherever he wants real soon! Today though was more mama directed since we have done free art for the past few days , remember to give your child lots of free time with crayons, paints and their imagination!
Start by tracing the milk carton on the paper, then fold the 2 pieces and cut . You should have 4 identical pieces of black paper. 
Next cut out 4 groups of different shapes from the foam, I did ovals, circles, rectangles and triangles, but feel free to do any shape you are learning about right now. 
Invite your child to the table, and have them match up the shapes on the paper. I stuck one of each shape on the pages to guide my son and he got it right away. 
For younger ones do two shapes at a time, older children can have all 4 shapes to sort a once. 
Give them the next two shapes and pages.
While they stick the shapes on cut the top off the milk carton.
Grab the glue .
Glue the pages on the sides of the carton. 
Using the top of the milk carton you cut off trace a square for the top of the building. 
Glue it on. Let dry
“Madeline” by Ludwig Bemelmans is a great book often overlooked because of the popularity of the character. The book has great rhyming text, wonderful illustrations of Paris, with ample opportunity to talk about what you can find in the city, and a hospital storyline too! I love this book, and would even if the illustrations of Paris didn’t make me long for my traveling days. My son sat happily for the whole book this morning and made me go upstairs to get his Madeline doll and read it again.
” Inside a Zoo in the City” by Alyssa Satin Capucilli is a rebus read along , so children who can’t read words yet can help read this with pictures put right into the text! The story is repetitive and builds with one animal and page at a time. Preschoolers love these books and the repetitive nature of it makes it interactive and fun! 
“Barney Backhoe and the Big City Dig” by Susan Knopf is a perfect book for your digger obsessed child, but even if your child can’t spot a backhoe from a mile away this book is a cute story about helping people , and the illustrations are filled with things that are found in the city and can spark great discussions with your child . 
