Construction Themed Sensory and Play Ideas for Kids

Last week, we explored the topic of construction in our play. Vehicles and construction tends to be something that interests my 3 year old son, more than my 5 year old daughter; however, I was pleasantly surprised that both kids dove into these activities and had a blast.

1. Construction Trains Sensory Play

We love our trains and wooden tracks and usually set up a big track to play with every few weeks. This time, I thought it would be fun to use our Tuff Tray and fill it with some sensory material to compliment the train track play.

brio cargo mountain train track play

I used our Brio Cargo Mountain set that my son got for his birthday last summer along with some very decadent construction sensory mixes from The Creative Mix to make this tray.  I added a few rocks, felt balls and trains… and that’s it.  I love a toy plus sensory base activity.  It’s so easy to set up and a great way to give new life to toys you already have.

The kids had a great time sending their trains down the track to pick up rocks and rubble and exploring what materials could fit in their train cars. They also added some farm accessories to the play and created some small world stories about animals taking rides on the train and bringing materials to the barn.

Materials

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2. Construction Sensory Flisat Table Play

The wood bridge, ramp and magnetic tile shoot in this activity were a huge hit with my kids. We left this play table out for most of the week. They had such a great time sending felt balls and sensory filler down the magnetic tile shoot, loading and dumping materials, traveling over the bridge from one bin to another and making up their own little construction stories.

construction sensory play IKEA flisat table

We also spend some time exploring what else might be able to fit down the magnetic tile construction shoot and the kids were delighted to discover one of their small cars was able to make it through.

Materials

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3. Wooden Trucks and Loose Parts Play

One of the easiest and most engaging activities we do is combining Fagus wooden trucks with Grapat mandala loose parts. It’s such a simple combination and yet, it leads to hours of imaginative play. Both my 5 yr old daughter and 3 yr old son love these 2 toys. We’ve slowly been collecting Fagus trucks and Grapat’s mandala piecesfor years now. I continue to add to the collections because they continue to remain a favourite here. 

fagus trucks and grapat mandala in tuff tray

I used our Tuff Tray to contain the mandala pieces this time, but my kids will often just dump them all over the floor and play. It works just as well without a special tray.

Materials

4. Construction Site Sensory Play Tray

Finally, I set up a simple construction Tuff Tray with Kinetic Sand. Kinetic Sand is always a favourite in our house, so I just added some building supplies and let the kids imaginations do the rest. They came up with some very creative ways to use the logs and bricks while engaging in some STEM building and, of course, they had a wonderful time with the sand. 

construction themed tuff tray set up

Materials

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Do your kids like construction play? What are some of your go-to activities?