What do young children learn when they explore Construction?

• They ask questions such as "How can we make it taller? Stronger?"
• They explore and talk about symmetry, balance and patterns.
• They design and make models, both real and imaginary
• They notice problems and come up with possible solutions.
• They make connections between structures in their environment and their own designs and models.

The goal of this What’s the BIG Idea? kit:

To provide a general, basic understanding of construction while reading books, making observations and doing hands-on investigations.

$36.99

We live in a built environment—from the buildings we sleep in, work in, play in and learn in, to the infrastructure our society has built—bridges, roads, radio towers, telephone poles. These structures provide lessons in engineering, balance, structural integrity and more.

Most structures are designed to serve a specific function as well as to look good. When children attempt to build a structure, the important relationships between form and function become more apparent.

A well-designed structure needs to serve its function with an appropriate and effective use of materials. Part of that function is to stand up and not collapse. A structure needs to withstand the force of gravity, which attracts all things to the earth. When gravity pulls on a structure forces are exerted on different parts of the structure. When a material is being pulled apart, the force is called tension. When a material is being squeezed together, the force is called compression. And when it is being twisted, the force is called torque. For structures to stand up, the forces on them need to be balanced. When children build structures, they are working with these same forces. They need to keep their structures balanced so they won’t topple over. They need to use materials that won’t crumble under too much weight or pull apart.

They can work with symmetry and design as they explore and copy patterns in the built environment. As children build, they discover that some materials have certain properties that make them most useful for certain functions, while other materials have different properties and serve different functions. The more they build, the more children learn to persevere to accomplish their task, all the while solving the various problems inherent in engineering tasks.

The built environment is filled with both visual and textural patterns. The patterns seen are created by a row of windows in a tall building, bricks in a building’s façade, and structural elements making an old railroad bridge. Many patterns in structures can be felt as well—such as the veins in a birch leaf, the horizontal rows of clapboards on a house, or the bumping pattern you feel when you run along a picket or iron fence with a stick.

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