25 Building and engineering activities for kids

All kids are creative and love to play! Am I right? It’s just the matter to exposing them to the right kind of stimulation that gets their creative juices flowing. For some this stimulant is art  and art activities, for some, it could be setting up sensory activities, for some it could be simple tinkering games and for my kids it has always been building activities – any kind of building! As long as it means putting together something, then they are game.

Here is a super fun round up with tons of ideas for creating simple “invitation to build”. There are  25 ideas. C’mon, let’s build and build with something other than BLOCKS!

I have categorized the ideas according to the major material needed. All the images will take you to the original blog.

STYROFOAM

Building activity with pipe cleaners from Blog Me Mom

Invitation to build with Styrofoam from Mama.Papa.Bubba.Blog

Geoboard Building Activity from Meri Cherry Blog

Styrofoam Structures from Housing A Forest

Build with meat trays from Happy Hooligans

CARDBOARD

Invitation to build with cardboard from Happy Hooligans

Building activity with paper rolls and straws from Frugal Fun for Boys

Build a castle with cardboard from Acorn Pies ( more involved- great for school age kids)

PAPER

Build with index cards and straws from Artchoo! (scroll down for the idea)

Build with paper blocks from Babble Dabble Doo

Build with newspaper!!! from Modern Parents Messy Kids (AMAZING IDEA!)

FOOD

Build with sugar cubes from Mama.Papa.Bubba.Blog

Build with watermelon from Fantastic Fun and Learning

Build with orange peels from Buggy and Buddy

Building activity with spaghetti and gumdrops from Composition Classroom

Build with apples from Fun at Home with Kids

Saving the most versatile for the last – build with random objects. The most open ended building activity for kids.

LOOSE PARTS

Invitation to build with magnetic building blocks from Whatdowedoallday

Build with bottle caps from Mama Peapod

Building activity with loose parts from No Times for Flash Cards

Building with pool noodles from And Next Comes L

Button and Cork Builders from No Time for Flash Cards

Build with cups from Teach Preschool

Build with ice from Blog Me Mom

Build with sticky crafts sticks from Hands on: As we grow

Blocks and shaving cream from Fit Kids Clubhouse

Build with straws and spools from Make Do and Friend

Thanks for reading!