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
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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Liz
Where do you get the trays? Thank you!
Shaunna
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
Kelley
Where did you get the small blocks?
Shaunna
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