🎨 Moving & making · Ages 2–3 · about 3 weeks

Big Shapes, Little Builds

Goal: Use both hands to arrange large pieces, make a low construction and choose shapes for a picture.

For parents: Stay with your child. Use pieces too large to fit in their mouth, and remove anything torn or mouthed. An adult checks boxes for staples, sharp edges and loose tape. Build on the floor, below your child's shoulder height.

Do together

  1. Build a place for teddy

    You need: Two or three small empty cardboard boxes and a large soft toy

    Offer the boxes for your child to place side by side or stack low. Try making a place beside the boxes for teddy. Hold a box steady if needed and let your child choose what to move.

  2. A picture to rearrange

    You need: A sheet of paper and large circles and squares torn from paper by an adult

    Arrange the pieces together on the sheet. A circle might be a sun or a face; your child can choose something else. Move a piece and notice how the picture changes. No glue or finished picture is needed.

  3. Make, take apart, make again

    You need: The checked boxes and paper pieces

    Make a low row of boxes. Invite your child to add a large paper shape beside each one, then help take the arrangement apart. Ask which piece they would like to place first in a new build. Collect all paper afterwards.

Talk about it

  • Which piece would you like?
  • Where shall this circle go?
  • What could we make with these boxes?

Words to use

  • build
  • place
  • move
  • circle
  • square
  • beside

Play

  • Shape Builder
    Building
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