Ask your students to bring in a shoe box to build a pint sized home model. Take the lid off and use tape and index cards inside the box as room dividers. Help the students to choose places for rooms and hold the index cards steady (one at a time) as the children tape them into place. Use markers, crayons or cut magazine pictures and glue to design individual rooms such as a bedroom, kitchen, dining room or family room. Cut one or a few shaped holes in the lid of the box. These can function as skylights for the children to look inside and see what is in each house.
Preschoolers can use craft sticks and glue to build their own model log cabin homes. Start with a square or rectangle shaped piece of cardboard that is at least ten inches long by ten inches wide. Help your students to lay four craft sticks on the cardboard in a square shape with the ends overlapping. Give the children clear drying, non-toxic school glue and invite them to attach the bottom two parallel craft sticks to the cardboard. Place a small circle or dab of glue on the ends of the glued sticks and add the next two craft sticks going the other direction to make a complete square. Repeat the steps, adding dabs of glue to the next sticks, building the house up higher. For a different look, try pre-colored craft sticks or sprinkle a bit of glitter onto the glued ends.
With pointed, roof-like tops, milk cartons have an almost perfect shape to make a house out of. Gather together an array of different milk cartons from single serve to family size. Make sure to thoroughly wash and dry all cartons. Help your students to cover the sides of the cartons with cut construction paper and glue or simply paint them with tempera and large brushes. Glue on rectangle shaped doors and square windows. Finish the look by adding two cut rectangles of construction paper to the top with tape as an extended sized roof.
Add a hint of pretend play into your home construction project. Reuse large packing, moving or electronics boxes and turn them into architectural activities. Give your preschools bright markers and crayons, and ask them to draw windows, doors and decorative items onto the outside of the boxes. Cut down the crease on one side and the adjoining bottom with scissors. This will make a 'door' where the children can enter and exit their house themed creation. Encourage the kids to draw on the inside of the boxes, adding kitchen items such as a sink or oven or dining room furniture.