Kids' Building Games

Using Blocks for Spelling, Math and Colors

• Blocks are the easiest toys to use for a building game. You can use different-colored blocks to play color-matching games, or blocks with letters to play spelling games. Using lettered blocks, instruct the players to stack all the vowels, for example, or to spell out a certain word to see who gets the answer first. Using numbered blocks, kids can solve math problems, such as stacking two blocks with the number "2" on them on top of each other, and then stacking the result of "2 + 2" (i.e., a block with the number "4") on the top of the first two blocks.

Building a Wall

• Another fun game to play with blocks is making customizable blocks to build a wall. This game is great for classrooms and allows each child to express his individuality. Give each child a block to color and design using markers or acrylic latex paint. Stack and glue all of the finished blocks so that you have a small wall that represents each child in the class.

Using Popsicle Sticks

• Give each team of three or four kids a few bags of popsicle sticks and craft glue. Allow each team to come up with a design to build their popsicle sticks into. This game works especially well with themes, such as holidays (e.g., building teepees for Thanksgiving). Each team will build its design; at the end of the building session, the kids can vote on their favorite popsicle-stick creation.

Making Gingerbread Houses

• A fun holiday game for Christmastime or Halloween is building gingerbread houses. Using gingerbread crackers, icing and pieces of candy for windows and others accessories, each child or team of children can design and build delicious gingerbread houses to share with the other children. You can even come up with categorized awards, such as "Most Inventive," "Most Creative Use of Candy" and so on.

Constructing Creative Forts

• If you're building forts at home, use couch cushions, blankets or tables. You can throw blankets over two couches that are a few feet apart and use cushions as walls for support. If you're in the classroom, you can throw pieces of construction paper over classroom chairs to create a fort. You can also tape cardboard boxes together: Cut out the sides, stack them, then decorate the outside with paint to make a colorful children's fortress.

Building Challenging Mazes

• Using cardboard boxes, kids can spend hours building mazes to crawl through (see Resources). An example of a fun maze game is having a relay race, where different teams build mazes and see who can get through them the fastest.