How do we make a house?

Last semester we worked a lot with the building of houses.  We discussed materials needed, different types of houses, tools used, and important parts of houses.  I added a new shelf to the block area to store all of our house materials.  So far we have a house book, masking tape, basket of tools, and empty space for more house materials (TBA).  I wanted empty space to give us the freedom to add materials when we need them.

What I did add were pieces of carpet.  This provided new inspiration for the children while building.  We spent the morning using them while making houses.  This is a story of one particular child's journey through building and how the other children reacted.

First a base for the house was constructed.  Carpet was considered initially, but was decided against as more "bricks" needed to be added.

"I need a seat and a bed.  Two seats in my house."

Here is the garage

This shows how the "bricks" were stabilized.    Careful application of masking tape helped them stay still.  When the house was completed, children would come and go and enjoy the pre-made house with people.  This way those who wanted to pretend could pretend without the hassle of building a house.  

This got me thinking.  What if we put our house building skills to use by making one large house to perfect over a few weeks.  This way we will have our own house that is specific to what we need.  I plan on presenting this idea to the children next week and will let you know of the results!