Unusual Items in the Blocks Center

Hi! It's Scott from Brick by Brick. I love to repurpose materials—use materials in ways different from their intended use. My kids love to build things and I've been looking for ways to expand those activities. So I've been experimenting with using unusual and different items in the blocks center. Here are some items that have been repurposed for construction.

Food Containers - Last month on this blog, I mentioned using food containers in the blocks center.

Colander and Chenille Stems (Pipe Cleaners) - The kids discovered several ways to use the chenille stems with the blocks. The colander became a dome for the "bird house."

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Colored Straws - For a while the kids just played with the straws. Then, the straws became a part of the construction.

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Rocks, Plastic Grass, and Paper - I thought the kids would create nature scenes. They created yards for their building. They began to tear the paper to create more "grass." Not what I had in mind but still a fun experiment.

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Fabric - I put fabric pieces in the center. My thinking was to create tents but the kids found lots of uses for the fabric.

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Rope Light - I really was excited about this activity, adding rope light to the blocks center. I'd seen it on a few other blogs. My kids tried it a little but really just ignored it. We will be trying this again.

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Wood Objects - I gathered some wooden objects from the craft store. Kids had fun experimenting with using the objects on their block constructions and building with the objects only.

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Kitchen Items - My most recent experiment was using kitchen items in the blocks center. Kids built with the blocks and pans...and tried building with just the pans themselves.

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My best advice in using unusual items in the blocks center—just put the items in the center and let the kids experiment. Don't offer any particular ideas or the kids may just do what you suggest. I've found that I need to tell kids, "You can use these things if you want." (Sometimes kids ignore or avoid the items without my "permission" to use them.)

What unusual things have you used in the blocks center? (I'll post more ideas on Brick by Brick today.)

My name is Scott, though most call me Mr. Scott. I love teaching preschoolers and kindergartners. I have been working with kids for over 25 years. I've been a teacher, preschool center director, volunteer, curriculum writer and editor, and workshop and conference leader. I blog at Brick by Brick.