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Dinosaurs

I went to a conference a few years ago and attended a "Block Play" presentation. The presentor talked about different toys to add to the block center to help stir the children's imagination. One thing he suggested, that I had never thought of before, was dinosaurs. I tried it, and my students really liked it. So now I put them out every year.

Construction Workers

I love my construction vehicles. I looked all over the Internet for a good set of these that had moving parts and weren't too big. I love putting these out in the blocks because it encourages the students to build with the blocks.

Animals

Students use the blocks to make cages for the animals at the zoo.

Dollhouse and People

I have some generic people (mom, dad, brother, sister), but then I noticed that a coworker had superheroes (Batman, Superman, Robin, Spiderman, etc.) and Disney princesses for her students to play with. I thought this was a brilliant idea! I couldn't believe I didn' t think of it myself. I ordered the Little People brand. My students love pretending to be some of their favorite characters.

Block Center

I have blocks out all the time. I add toys to the center that help extend play, and encourage the students to use the blocks. 

Cars

  • Day one: Cars

  • Day two: Add car signs (stop sign, yield sign, no parking, crosswalk, etc.)

  • Day three: Add building signs. I have some wooden blocks that have a picture and label on them of different buildings in a community (hospital, zoo, movie theater, gas station, fire station, police station, etc.) Now the students can use the blocks to make buildings and label them with the signs. 

  • Day four: Add car garage. 

Additional activities:

  • Community buildings: I bought some community buildings from Lakeshore. The students like them, but it doesn't encourage them to use the blocks since the buildings are already made.

Trains

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