The teachers can read a book about different types of houses and then ask children to think of words to describe their own homes. Each kindergartner could work with the teacher to write down sentences describing an imaginary house they would like to live in. Then students draw a picture of their imaginary house, including representations of their descriptive words, including the color and size of the house. The drawings and sentences are combined to create a large class book.
Teachers can have children compare pictures of houses to determine which is larger or smaller. Kindergartners can cut out several different shapes from construction paper and manipulate the shapes to create a house. Children can experiment with a tape measure and practice recording measurements of house building materials such as nails, bricks, hammers and boards. A large picture of a house and several paper cutouts of people can be used to have the students take turns adding and subtracting people in the house.
Kindergartners can discuss the types of shelter animals need, such as caves and nests. Teachers can ask why animals and people need different types of houses or shelter, depending on climate or population. Children can use a magnifying glass to examine bricks, boards and other materials used to build houses. Students could experiment with building model houses out of modeling clay, twigs and straw and discuss what materials would build the strongest house.
Children can compare and contrast how people live in other parts of the world, looking at pictures of houses in different settings. Discussion would include differences between houses built in the mountains, on a sandy beach or in crowded city. Teachers display clothing typical of different groups of people or cultures around the world and ask children to guess what kind of house the people wearing the clothes would need. For example, a parka and snow boots could represent a cold climate. Kindergartners build their own igloo by stacking milk jugs.