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You are here: Home / Themes / Construction / Construction Site Play Dough Invitation

Construction Site Play Dough Invitation

By Shaunna Evans 4 Comments ยท This content may contain affiliate links.

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You know that we can’t possibly make it through a new preschool theme without incorporating some sort of play dough invitation. There are so many benefits of playing with play dough AND the kids love it so much that it’s a win all around! After our construction theme slime was such a crowd pleaser we tested out mixing up our own version of cement play dough. We all had tons of fun with this Construction Site Play Dough Invitation. Use it as part of a larger construction or community helpers theme or set it up as a fun activity anytime for little ones who love construction vehicles or building.

Construction Site Play Dough Invitation

Construction Site Play Dough Invitation for preschool construction or community helpers theme #playdough #preschool #sensory

FIND EVEN MORE CONSTRUCTION THEME ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE CONSTRUCTION LESSON PLANS.

See it in Action

Take a minute to watch this quick video about some of the ways the kids were inspired to play with this construction site play dough invitation.

Make your own Construction Site Play Dough

Now let’s learn how to make your own construction site play dough so your kids can get in on the fun too!

Construction Site Play Dough Invitation for Preschoolers

Materials

  • “Cement” Play Dough-I started with a simple play dough recipe.  To get the gray coloring for our dough I added gray acrylic paint to the boiling water before mixing it with the other ingredients. A little goes a long way! The paint does make the dough a bit more wet than most of our play dough, but I thought it worked well with the intent of this invitation. If you don’t like it, cut back on the amount of paint or add extra flour if you’ve already added the paint.
  • Small wooden blocks
  • White navy beans
  • River rocks and glass gems
  • Small construction vehicles

If your children are new to construction vocabulary, be sure to spend some time reading some books about the different kinds of construction vehicles, engineering, and construction sites to help develop that vocabulary and background knowledge.


Pretend Play with the Construction Site Play Dough Invitation

Now that you’ve got everything ready it’s time to site back and watch the play unfold! You’ll notice a lot of early childhood skills woven into the activities kids choose to do with this play dough invitation.

Construction Theme Sensory Play for Preschool

They’ll likely start by pressing out the dough and experiment with rolling the different vehicles over it to smooth out their construction site surface.

As they do theses things they are working on their fine motor skills, and they’ll also likely notice the different imprints and designs that the vehicle wheels leave behind.

Construction Theme Play for Kids

They might pinch and load bits of cement onto some of the vehicles.

As they do they are working on that pincer grasp and experimenting with capacity and measurement when they test out just how much dough they need to fill each vehicle.

Preschool Construction Theme Pretend Play

Then they might start experimenting with building their own structures.

They’ll transport blocks and use their cement play dough to help secure different blocks together as they make new structures.

As they do they are learning about properties of matter and how to create something new out of smaller parts. They are also learning to test out different strategies as they try to create structures that are stable enough to stand alone.

Play Dough Construction Theme Activity for Preschool

They may even start doing a bit of counting.

Here the navy bean “boulders” were sprinkled on the cement. As kids tried to pick them up and load them in the truck they started counting to see how many would fill the truck.

A fantastic and authentic way to practice counting!

Play Dough Construction Theme Demolition Pretend Play

And finally! What’s a construction theme without a bit of demolition?

Here the kids build towers using the larger river rocks and cement dough. As they did they practiced patterning by alternating between rocks and dough, and they worked on creating structures that would balance on their own.

Then it was time for their favorite part…demolition! They knowed their towers over and built them back up over and over again.

I bet your kids will come up with even more fun ways to play with this construction site play dough invitation!

MORE CONSTRUCTION FUN WITH PRINTABLE CONSTRUCTION THEME LESSON PLANS

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

Construction Theme Lesson Plans and Preschool Activities

GET YOUR LESSON PLANS

Preschool Construction Theme Lesson Plans

Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.

More STEM Fun!

Learn about geography, world structures, architecture and more with your preschoolers using this preschool STEM Challenges BUNDLE. This preschool bundle comes with 4 complete STEM Challenges sets to explore world structures, US structures, world bridges, and the local community.

Save over 25% when you buy the complete STEM Challenges Series BUNDLE!

Construction Play Dough Invitation Square

IMAGE CODE
Construction Theme Pretend Play with Construction Site Play Dough Invitation #communityhelpers #preschool #kindergartenConstruction Site Play Dough Invitation -Preschool Sensory Play and Play Dough Ideas #preschool #playdohConstruction Site Play Dough Pretend Play for Preschoolers #playdough #pretendplay #preschoolersConstruction Site Play Dough Invitation #preschool #playdough #sensoryplay

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Filed Under: Construction, Fine Motor, Kindergarten, Preschool, Sensory, Toddler Tagged With: play dough

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Liz

    August 20, 2020 at 1:06 am

    Where do you get the trays? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      August 22, 2020 at 5:13 am

      Hi Liz,
      Our specific divided trays are from the seasonal housewares section at Walmart. They are “technically” fruit and veggie trays. You’ll often find a selection at Dollar Tree as well. However, over the years I’ve seen many other stores carry them in their housewares sections. If you are outside of the US, then you might try looking for vegetable trays in the housewares or dishware section of your local stores.
      Hope this helps!
      Shaunna

      Reply
  2. Kelley

    August 6, 2020 at 7:24 pm

    Where did you get the small blocks?

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      August 9, 2020 at 7:43 am

      Hi Kelley,
      I don’t have the exact information on the specific blocks in the photos, but you can get small wooden craft blocks that are about 1-1.5″ sq. that would work perfectly. I did a quick search, and you can get a pack of unfinished wood craft blocks from Amazon for under $10. I hope this helps!
      Shaunna

      Reply

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