Non-Traditional Building Materials

Lesson Plan:

Activity:

Lesson plan developed by Aurora Tollestrup, BS Ed

Age Group:

Objectives:

Children will:

build with non-traditional building materials to explore STEM concepts.

Non-Traditional Building Materials

CDA Competency Standard:

II.5.1a

Activities encourage curiosity, exploration and discovery

a) Activities involve developmentally appropriate, hands-on experiences

Materials:

hot glue gun
clear plastic plates (we used 2 clear plastic container lids instead)
dried beans
beads
cut straws
corn meal

Procedure:

Provide an area in the classroom with an assortment of non-traditional building materials for children to explore and use to engineer their creations.
You may wish to add these materials to the current block play area or put them out instead of traditional blocks.

Assessment:

Observe and record the children’s experience with the materials. Did the toddler use the materials in unexpected ways? Did he or she get frustrated with the different materials? Did the materials heighten the STEM play?

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Benefits of STEM Block Play

Block play is a common and exciting component to infant and toddler development. Children explore blocks in many different ways and engage in STEM based exploration.

A typical early childhood classroom will focus on social, emotional and foundational skills such as early literacy and early math concepts. These are very important early childhood skills to teach and can be developed further when combined with STEM concepts such as block play.

With STEM curriculum comes much more than just incorporating more science, technology, engineering, and math lessons. STEM is also a process in which identifying, problem solving, critical thinking, and hypothesizing all come in to play. STEM curriculum teaches children to use the separate elements of STEM along with prior knowledge to create a cohesive unit in which to build even further knowledge.

Social skills and community relationships are another benefit of STEM curriculum. Many STEM lessons or activities will involve groups, pairs, or community members, giving children a platform for learning cooperatively through social interactions. Many early childhood classrooms focus on social skills and relationships in their existing curriculum and routines, and STEM will help reinforce those skills.