Guest Author - Diane Claus

This is a large project divided into three smaller projects that can be done over a period of days or weeks depending on the interests the children involved. The third part is creating the roads to pull the building and road signs together.

You will need:
-White flat sheet size depends on amount of space you have.
-Washable markers
-Toy cars
-Toy people

If you use washable makers you can wash the sheet and start over again another day. I used a cheap white flat sheet that I bought for less then $5. I use a twin sheet because of space and the fact that it is easy for the children to handle. If you have a larger area you may want to use a larger sheet. If you have a smaller area you can fold the sheet in half to accommodate.

Before the children arrive tape the sheet down. I highly recommend drawing on a tile or laminate floor in case of bleed through. If this is not an option and you are really concerned with bleed through onto the carpet bring and old sheet in and place it under the white sheet.

As the children start arriving draw two intersecting roads on the sheet and put a stop sign at the intersection. Then put one of the buildings at the corner and draw a square or rectangle for the parking lot and place a few toy cars. Explain to the children what you are doing and invite them to grab a marker and expand on the road and the city. As they become more and more involved with the project slowly decrease what you are doing and allow the children to completely take over.

When the city is finished take a picture of the finished project. When it is time to clean up have an extra bin out pull up the tape and show the children how to fold the sheet and put it away until the next time they want to play. After a while ask the children if they want to make a new city when they say yes wash the sheet and you have a blank canvas to start over with.


Wondering what buildings and road signs I am referring to?
Check out the earlier articles in this series Road Signs and Building Buildings