Here’s a fun idea for the child who likes construction – a take along construction set for pretend play!

Take Along Construction Play Set

One of the fun things about Jonathan is that he is very happy to be 3. Owen has always wanted to leave his age behind to do whatever his oldest brother is doing, but Jonathan is content to be a preschooler. Even though no one else is into construction trucks right now, he found a tub of pinto beans in the pantry and asked if he could dig in them with trucks. We ended up creating this whole little tub. It’s great because everything fits in the box for storage, and it’s easy to take places!

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Take Along Construction Play Set

The storage tub came from Target clearance, so unfortunately it is probably not available anymore. (I bought it two weeks ago.) Finding something equivalent shouldn’t be too hard, however.

Here’s what we put inside:

  • Toy trucks
  • Felt roads
  • A shovel
  • Colored rocks
  • Pinto beans

When I went to round up the construction trucks that we have accumulated over the years, I discovered that every single one of them was broken! The quality of toys these days is pathetic. I replaced our broken trucks with this pack of 5 Caterpillar Construction Mini Machines (Toy State). Amazon’s price on this set kept changing, so I ended up buying them from Target for $5.99. I did the pick up in store option which means that this is an item that they have in stock in most stores, but we had already looked for trucks at Target and I sure couldn’t find them. I’m not sure where they had them in the store although the lady at guest service assured me that they did! ANYWAY, they are cute little trucks and just the right size. They are lightweight plastic and I’m not sure how long they will last, but at least I got 5 for only $6, and they actually dig and scoop.

The felt roads are super simple. I just cut out the road pieces and glued on yellow stripes with hot glue.

Take Along Construction Play Set

I have found that having “something to dig” keeps preschoolers busy a long time! We used pinto beans, but you could also use another type of dry bean, small rocks, or even Lego bricks. This is obviously for kids who are past the stage of mouthing things.

Take Along Construction Play Set

The colored rocks are the melted crayon rocks that we made a few weeks ago.

Take Along Construction Play Set

This would make a great gift for a kid who loves construction!

Here are some of our favorite construction books to go with it:

Favorite Construction Books

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site

My Big Construction Book

My Big Truck Book (The boys have always liked books with real photos.)

Take Along Construction Play Set

The Truck Book

Take Along Construction Play Set

Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go – This is a FAVORITE book! Jonathan loves choosing his favorite vehicle on each page, and of course looking for Goldbug!

Take Along Construction Play Set

2 Comments

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  1. Mel Jun 10, 2015

    I love this idea, I wish it was posted the other week when Target was doing free shipping!

    Reply
  2. Emma @ P is for Preschooler Jun 12, 2015

    This is a great idea! I think it would make an awesome gift too!

    Reply

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