Transportation and Construction Play with Kids

Bryce is passionate about visiting construction sites. When walking through the city, we will stop to watch a road being repaired and a new sky scraper being built. My grandson will carefully observe how the various types of construction equipment is used for specific construction jobs. He loves to watch the transformation of earth moving equipment that forms roads and highways.

At home and at the park, Bryce recreates construction sites with his construction vehicles. He has studied books and knows the name and purpose for each type of construction truck. Bryce likes to be the truck operator and will work cooperatively with a pretend crew when creating a road or building. When playing with others, he has learned how to share his toys and take turns when operating the different vehicles.

Construction Play Options

I have learned that we must pack trucks and sand gear wherever we go so we are ready for another adventure in creatively playing in sand, dirt, and when visiting friends. We now have two sets of Bryce’s favorite construction equipment. The larger construction vehicles are used outside with different types of natural materials that include:

Dirt, gravel, tan bark, and sand
Water
Rocks, branches, and yard trimmings
Fruit droppings, leaves, and flowers
Stepping stones

The smaller set is used in the house with the following building equipment toys:

Wooden building blocks
Roylco Straw Connectors
Magna Tiles
Lego
Tinker toys
Lincoln logs

Sharing with Other Children

Here are lessons we have learned when sharing construction equipment with other children:

It is important to bring toys to the park that we can share with others.
We must respect different approaches to problem-solving and creativity.
Cooperation is critical for creating a successful construction project.
Alternating roles during creative play teaches us how to become effective followers as well as leaders.
We learn to resolve differences when playing with others.

Construction Community Service

At a recent capital campaign fundraising event, I asked my grandson to help me borrow construction vehicles from his friends to use as center pieces for dinner tables. We had so much fun recreating construction sites with the various vehicles. Attending families took pictures of these construction equipment recreations and shared them with their children. The children learned how to share their toys for a real construction project that they could observe being built at the job site.

Share your adventures when playing with your children and building construction projects in the comments section below!

Happy building!

Joyce