Block Area Ideas

This is from Gayle's Preschool Rainbow website.  It offers some ideas for inexpensive block props.



Cheap Block Play
Materials: Empty boxes - from small shoe boxes to big boxes, such as the ones diapers come in and retail outlet boxes. 
Description: Put boxes in the block area where there is room for building and exploring.
Comments: Children love playing with the different shapes and sizes.


Block Time Prop
Materials: Small green containers that strawberries come in.
Description: Teachers put these containers in the block area or play area. The children can make garages for cars or cages for animals. We have made a two room house with them.  Preschool children never get enough of these containers. 
Comments: Have all of the children save the containers from home.

Fun with Blocks
Explore shape recognition, small motor skills and how three dimensional
shapes change by view point with this activity by Kristine S.
Materials: Several wooden blocks, paper, pencil, clear contact paper or laminator.
Description: Teachers, in advance, trace different sides of several blocks onto paper (i.e.: trace the long sides and short sides of a rectangular block).  Cover with clear contact paper or laminate. Set the blocks and paper out.  Let the children match the blocks to the shapes.  Encourage them to try different blocks on the same tracing.
A follow up activity is to let them trace blocks of their own choosing onto  paper.

Blocks: Textured Building
Preschool children explore different textures while building
gross motor and socialization skills during this activity by Lisa P.
Materials: Carpet squares, corrugated cardboard, pie tins, egg cartons, baskets.
Description: Teachers place materials in the block area. Show new
materials to children at circle. Bring some examples of the new 
materials for the children to touch during circle. Discuss how they feel
and look differently.
Before school, begin a structure for the children to add on to,
or just to foster their imagination. (motivational technique).
Comments: Add Duplo people and animals to make a city.
During storytime read "I Can Be An Architect" by Susan Clinton.
Opposites: Long and Short
Leslie offers this creative idea for teaching the concept of
"long and short".
Materials: Brown construction paper, drinking straws, tape, hole punch, and scissors
Teachers make a template of a dachshund / wiener dog and let the kiddies trace it on a piece of construction paper, brown is best.  If they have good scissors skills, let them cut out their dog. 
Accordion fold the middle of the dog and punch a hole in the center of the bunch of folds so that each fold will have a hole in the middle.  Push the straw through the holes and tape to the back of the dog's head.  Now they can hold the straw with one hand and make their doggie "grow" by pulling the other!

Peek-a-Boo Folders
Promote visual discrimination with teacher made folders in this small group activity by Michelle B. 
Materials: New or used file folders, pictures of animals or other objects, scissors, and clear contact paper.
Description: Using the contact paper, attach a picture to the inside of
a file folder.  Cut a hole on the outside of the folder, revealing a section of the picture. Repeat this for as many pictures as you have.
Have the pictures available to the preschoolers.  See if they can guess what the picture is of by looking at the section revealed through the hole.