Child-made Construction Small World Backdrop

 

A few weeks before Dimples had his 5th Birthday Party, a construction themed party, I had an idea to make a back drop type play station for the party so the kids could play with all sorts of construction themed toys in a small world diorama.  Some kids are sensory challenged and don tlike dirt, mud and getting their hands all gross so this was an easy outdoor option on a smaller scale.

 

We started with an open cardboard box and some paint, it developed from there with some roads and cotton wool dirt piles and a rubbish pile glue in one corner. On the day of his party I put some cocoa pops and rice bubbles out for the kids to "dig into".  I had seen the idea of using rice bubbles a couple years ago on Paint on the ceiling and always kept it in the back of my head hoping that one year Dimples would want a digging themed party.

This was it and it worked a treat.

 

 

During the weeks before, Dimples practised his scissor skills cutting out some buildings or 'skyscrapers' to stick on the back drop, he helped paint, glue and decorate the back drop. So the cardboard box which was just opened up on an angle and then stapled together so that it kept steady yet open enough for play slowly turned into a mini world full of construction.  It was turning into a cool looking pretend play zone and Dimples had a blast making it come to life bit by bit leading up to his party.

 

 

Dimples loves craft, it was his idea to glue in some cotton wool balls and paint them brown to resemble a pile of rocks, and then in another corner he glued in "rubbish" which was ripped pieces of paper.  I added some drawings, like a demolition ball on a crane and the windows in the buildings.  It was looking more like a 3D small world by now. We added some road work signs and little traffic toys that he had along with a collection of construction vehicles and there he had his own construction area for pretend play.  Dimples loves imaginative pretend play and small world areas, they give play time a realistic element.  

 

It was a small construction zone for a couple of weeks before and he continues to love it for weeks after his birthday party, it proved to be a realistic little 3D small world on the day of his party and looked realistic with piles of pretend rubble. The coco pops and rice bubbles were a great sensory add on to the 3D world, they bought it to life and worked well getting dumped around and bulldozed over. The fit inside dump trucks and were able to get pushed around and cleared.  The boys were happy to taste some and it is a safe alternative for younger kids as well.

 

I imagined that on the day they would get spread out everywhere but it was a risk worth taking, the boys were quite happy to play with them at the 3D small world construction station and used them in their imaginative play the way they were intended. They were able to spread them out all over the table and a majority of them did exactly that, carting, hauling, dumping and loading trucks tractors and construction vehicles all over the scene. It was definitely a fun alternative to digging in the dirt.

 

 

What other alternatives to dirt and mud would your kids love to dig in to?

Small World Play Ideas from around the Web

 

Benefits of Small World Play - Happy Feet Penguins By Adventures at Home with Mum

Using Books to Create Small World Play  By My little Bookcase

Frog Pond Small world Play  By One Perfect Day

A Rainbow Stacker small world By You clever Monkey 

Sand Dough Small world Beach  By Adventures at Home with Mum

Farm Small World Play  By Two Daloo

Free Small World Printable  By Picklebums 

Outdoor Small World Magical Gnome Garden  By Adventures at Home with Mum

Monster Truck Sensory Track with Faux Dirt  By Paging Fun Mums 

Styrofoam Ice Capsules and Penguins in water beads  By Adventures at Home with Mum

 

Happy Adventures 

You can keep updated with all our Adventures by following Adventures at Home with Mum on Facebook, follow us on Pinterest, or check us out on Instagram.

Demolition Ball Construction Party Game

While getting some Construction themed Party inspiration off Pinterest for Dimples 5th Birthday Party I came across many Demolition party games, or "wrecking ball" type games where the children construct a tower out of blocks, pretend bricks or wrapped boxes and knock them down. With 8 little boys I knew this would be a hit!

 

 In the weeks prior to the party I held on to any boxes we had and asked family to keep them, then Dimples helped me wrap them up as bricks. We had a large collection from shoe boxes, electrical appliance boxes and cereal-food packaging boxes all wrap in red, orange and yellow ready for the Construction theme 5th Birthday Party for Dimples. 

In the week leading up to it Dimples had his trial of the game and we were happy with how that turned out and just knew that it would be much more fun on the day. The demolition or wrecking ball, was simply a beach ball covered in contact with a pipe cleaner stuck in as a hook to tie some string to.
We were right! Every one had a ball, there were kids laughing and giggling, yelling with excitement at who can knock the all the blocks over.

It was a huge hit, all the boys got a turn, some enjoyed it so much they stayed at it helping one another stack up towers and taking turns with the wrecking ball. There were towers and multiple towers being built and large piles of boxes flying all over the place. It was a good outlet for the sugar boosted energy they all had and for the party excitement they came with on the day and it was an ongoing play area that they all kept returning to.  If you missed it you can see what other construction party games we had here.

Happy Adventures 

You can keep updated with all our Adventures by following Adventures at Home with Mum on Facebook, follow us on Pinterest, or check us out on Instagram.

Construction Theme Party Games

Piñata: A construction Themed Piñata stuffed with lollies, Dimples was five so he went first with 5 hits and each child got 5 swings at the piñata.

Dance Freeze: This was the game that Dimples insisted we played, I put some music on and the boys danced away showing us there best dance moves. It was such a happy sight seeing a bunch of kids enjoying them self, they looked so cute wearing construction vests, hats and boots grooving away.
Then Using a Stop Sign, I paused the music & held up the sign, they had to freeze and who ever moved was out, and so the game went until there were 2 left.  They had a few goes and everyone ended up being a winner.

Wrecking Ball Game:  With a beach ball wrapped in contact and hanging above a grassy mat the boys stacked up towers of boxes we had wrapped as bricks and took turns demolishing them.

Pass the Parcel: Most people know this classic Party game. A parcel of news paper with hidden prizes inside each layer. The children pass the parcel until the music stops and if it stops on them they get to open a layer. The prizes were construction themed stickers, balloons, bouncing balls, removable tattoos, notebooks, chocolates and crayons.

Construction Theme Play Station:  In the week leading up to the party Dimples create a diorama kind of backdrop for the play station, it was a construction site with a bowl of construction toy cars, diggers and trucks, then using a bag of coco-pops and rice bubbles it was set up for some pretend play and digging.

Free Play: Of course until all the initial excitement wore off a little the boys explored the garden and found some smurfs, then looked at the Dinosaur hide out , they played in the sand pit together getting to know each other & tinkered around in the Mud Kitchen.  They played together in the tree house and went over the balance stumps and ran around all dressed up in their construction gear.

Jelly Bean Bounce & Pop Game: We blew up a heap of balloons and in some we put jelly beans, then we put them all in the trampoline. The boys enjoyed this game the most, they had to jump and pop the balloons by sitting on them or jumping on them. There were plenty of giggles and they continued until there were no balloons left in the trampoline, a couple of boys asked for more and wanted to do it again.

Digging Work Zone: Of course no Construction Party is complete without digging in the dirt. After a couple of weeks of rain we were lucky to get a sunny day and the have the mud dry out a bit. Dimples had spent the days before digging and burying little skeleton dinosaurs, little treasures and wishing stones for the kids to find. We decorated the area like a real construction site and had a bunch of diggers, dump trucks, excavators and shovels ready. It was a huge hit and the boys kept returning to find more hidden treasures.


Happy 5th Birthday Dimples.