A project on buildings provides the basis for an exciting and creative exploration of children's design and technology skills.
Adult-led activities
Huff and puff
Use the story of 'The Three Little Pigs' as the stimulus for a building activity.
Key learning intentions
To interact with one other, negotiating plans and activities and taking turns in conversation
To investigate construction materials, using all their senses as appropriate
To think about suitable materials for building houses
Adult: child ratio 1:2
Resources
3The story of 'The Three Little Pigs' 3three toy pigs 3a bag of straw 3a bag of twigs 3some house bricks 3three mats or similar to denote three building areas 3a digital camera (optional) Preparation
* Read the story of 'The Three Little Pigs' with the children during a story session. Alternatively, leave the story and props on your 'talk table' for the children to look at and touch. Let them come and listen to the story in small groups. Ask questions to encourage them to predict what will happen in the story, and ask why they have drawn conclusions such as, 'Why do you think the house of straw will fall/fell down?' If you do this part of the preparation in small groups, you will find it easier to record children's thoughts and ideas in readiness for the main activity, thus building on and extending current knowledge and understanding.
* Ask parents to provide, if possible, the straw, twigs and bricks.
* Use as large an area as you can for this activity. Lay the story props on the floor and the straw, twigs and bricks on the three mats.
* Allocate a display area if you are going to keep any constructions over several days. Alternatively, photograph the activity and use them in a display incorporating other project work.
* Decide which pairs of children would like to work together for the activity.
Activity content
* Ask the pairs of children what 'The Three Little Pigs' is about.
* Show them and ask them to identify the building materials from the story.
* Explain that they are going to build houses first with the straw, then the twigs and finally the bricks, as in the story.
* Stand back and let them work together. Ask open-ended questions.
* Let the children pretend to be the wolf trying to blow down each house.
* Take photos of the children's houses.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
House, material(s), construct, build, builders, design, straw, twigs, bricks, roof, windows, strong, safe.
Questions to ask
* What does the straw/twig/brick feel like?
* Which material will build the strongest house? Why do you think that?
* Why did the straw house fall down?
* Why did the twig house fall down?
* Why could the wolf not blow the brick house down?
Follow-up activities
* Leave the activity out for the children to access independently. Observe how they use the materials and interact in small groups. Photograph their investigative and co-operative play as a means of recording the activity.
* Change your role-play area into the three little pigs' brick house.
* Look at brick patterns. Do some brick printing. Perhaps this work could be used on the walls of the role-play area. Talk about tessellation. Find out which shapes fit together.
* Put out construction kits such as Duplo and Lego for the children to use to build houses and walls.
* Invite a builder into the setting to demonstrate cementing bricks together. Use the opportunity to discuss health and safety issues on a building site.
Alternative introductory activities
* Share 'building' stories or rhymes (see box). Talk about the types of buildings - those the children live in (introduce words such as detached, semi-detached and flat); those in their village/town (introduce words such as shop, library, school, hospital, bus station); some that are famous.
Write down the children's ideas on a large sheet of paper. Some children may talk about animal homes. Accept all these ideas as valid. From the children's answers it will be possible to base your building project on the children's current knowledge and understanding of what a building is and the types of building they come across on a day-to-day basis.
Young architects
Let the children design and construct their own buildings.
Key learning intentions
* To engage in activities requiring hand-eye co-ordination
* To construct with a purpose in mind, using a variety of resources
* To make three-dimensional structures
* To talk through activities, reflecting on and modifying what they are doing
Adult:child ratio 1:1, then 1:2
Resources
* A sheet of A3 paper for each child * pencils * if possible, house or building plans (brochures of house building projects should feature such plans) * junk modeling materials such as boxes, card and cellophane * scissors, Pritt sticks or PVA glue * Let's Build a House by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom (Franklin Watts, 4.99)
Preparation
* Read Let's Build a House with the children during a story session. Draw the children's attention to the house plans on page 12. Show the children any real plans that you may have.
* Designate an area for putting the constructions to dry.
Activity content Designing the building
* Ask each child, individually, to work with you to design their building and draw a plan. Have the book and any plans to hand to provide ideas.
* Agree the kind of building the child wants to design. As the child draws the plan, scribe some of their language and features of the building, for example, roof, windows, doors and walls.
* Ask what they think they will need to make their building and list the resources that the children would like to use.
* Write the name of the building on their plan - for example, Niven's Library, James' School.
Constructing the building
* Provide an area large enough for the children to construct and spread out their plans.
* Ask them to choose resources suitable for constructing their choice of building.
* Support and encourage the children's work. Some of the buildings may be difficult to construct and they may need to think of alternative design solutions.
* Once the buildings are dry, give the children the option to paint them.
* Display the finished buildings and their plans together.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Architect, design, build, builder, construct, materials, draw, plan, roof, window, door, wall, brick, wood, glass, bricklayer, carpenter, glazier Questions to ask
* Which building are you going to design?
* Which part of your building are you drawing now?
* Which materials will you need to make your building?
* How long do you think it will take to make your building?
* How tall/small/ big is your building?
* Who uses your building?
* What will you need to use to make your building strong?
Child-initiated learning
Outdoors
Additional resources
* Large interlocking plastic bricks * smaller bricks and trowels * large spades * wheelbarrows * hard hats, Duplo and/or Lego * cars * small-world people * paper * pencils and large crayons * pieces of wood and saws * general tools Possible learning experiences
* Building a 'life-size' wall using an interlocking brick pattern.
* Building in the wet sand with smaller bricks and trowels, pretending the wet sand is cement.
* Engaging in activities requiring hand-eye co-ordination, such as filling wheelbarrows with sand using a spade.
* Manipulating smaller objects when making buildings from construction kits, for example, garages for cars and houses for small-world people.
* Holding a pencil or crayon effectively when taking brick rubbings and drawing plans for new buildings for the site.
* Developing the use of language through fantasy role-play by turning an outside shed into a construction site office or an architect's office.
The practitioner role
* Support efforts to make a stable wall and model how the bricks interlock.
Have the children observe and copy the brick patterns in the walls of your setting.
* Ask open-ended questions to support the children's play - for example, 'What can you use to keep the bricks in place?'
* Ask the children to count how many times they need to dig with the spade to fill the wheelbarrow. Model one-to-one correspondence.
* Use comparative language when children design buildings. Ask how tall/small/high the buildings need to be.
* Show the children how to make brick rubbings and encourage them to use the rubbings as a blueprint for designing their own walls.
* Join in with the children's fantasy role- play. Ask questions to encourage their play - for example, 'Is there a carpenter here who can mend the bench?'
Malleable materials
Additional resources
* Clay * playdough * ready-made icing * cereal boxes * a selection of shapes made from gummed paper * PVA glue * Pritt sticks
Possible learning experiences
* Making clay bricks or patterns on a clay tile.
* Recognising 2D and 3D shapes.
* Exploring ready-made icing as an alternative to clay and playdough.
* Exploring colour mixing with the icing.
* Investigating the construction of cereal boxes by taking them apart and reconstructing them.
* Investigating 2D shapes by making a picture of a house with gummed shapes.
The practitioner role
* Model mathematical language.
* Support children as they decide on appropriate joining techniques to put cereal boxes back together.
* Help children identify and name house features such as roof, window and door.
STORIES AND RHYMES
* Three Little Pigs (Usborne First Stories, 1.95)
* 'Rapunzel', 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', 'Cinderella' and other traditional tales featuring buildings such as cottages, castles and towers
* Let's Build a House by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom (Franklin Watts, 4.99)
* Building by Philip Wilkinson (DK Eyewitness Guide 9.99)
* Big Book of Buildings by Jon Richards (Autumn Publishing Limited, Pounds 4.99)
* A Busy Day at the Building Site by Phillippe Dupasquier (Walker Books, Pounds 4.99)
* The Building Site by Moira Butterfield (Penguin, 3.99) Rhymes
* 'This is the way we build a house' (sung to the tune of 'Here we go round the mulberry bush')
* 'The house that Jack built'
* 'There was a princess long ago' (This Little Puffin, 6.99)
* 'Build a house with five bricks' (This Little Puffin, 6.99)
