Get ready to have some fun with giant building blocks.
It’s no secret that toddlers love to build. They love to make things go up just about as much as they like to see them come crashing down. For this STEM inspired building activity, we traded our small wooden blocks for huge boxes to make giant building blocks.
STEM activities are so great for all kids, even toddlers. STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education is rooted in hand-on (applied) learning, and simple activities like this fall right into that category.
Grab your boxes and get building!
Materials:
- Empty boxes
- Duct tape
There’s no big “to-do” list to prep this simple activity. Grab some empty boxes (they need to be light) and duct tape them back together. The goal is create large building blocks that won’t open and also won’t hurt anyone when they fall.
The main idea with this activity is to let your child build and create without much guidance. This allows them to work through the process of balancing and weight distribution without an adult taking over.
It’s all about them learning best practices for building through natural trial and error. Is a small box going to work on the bottom? Of course not! But they need to have the chance to discover that for themselves.
Think of all the structures your child can build using these large building blocks:
- Towers
- Forts
- Tunnels
- Bridges
- Cities
The difference between large blocks like these and smaller traditional toy blocks is the interaction of the child with the structure. Nothing but a toy car can fit under a wooden block bridge, but one made with these giant block boxes invites the child to play within the structure they built. The imaginative play really gets taken up a notch!
What else can you do with these Giant Building Blocks?
The extensions for this simple toddler activity are too many to count.
- Consider painting each box to create a multicolored set of blocks or paint them to look like bricks to play with.
- Let your toddler color the boxes with their favorite art supplies.
- Cover the boxes in Kraft paper and add windows.
- Use double sided tape to make the boxes stick together.
- Add blankets to build a giant block fort.
- Move this activity outside for a fun backyard building project.
Get those boxes out of the trash!
Before your next recycling day, or after your next big Amazon order comes, keep those boxes. Get enough together to make your child a giant build blocks game and they will love it to pieces – I promise. These giant building blocks have been a huge hit for us and a great change from traditional building blocks.
Need some more building project ideas? Try my recycled buildings and shaving cream block towers.
What would your kids create with giant building blocks?
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Saani Bennetts says
What a great idea!! I’ve always loved letting children build and create with boxes but I’ve never thought to tape them up and use them as giant building blocks – very cool. Can’t wait to try it.