Ideas for a houses and homes theme, including books, music, activities, and resources.
Home Books
A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman
A fun rhyming book about all kinds of houses–from anthills and beehives to spider webs and corn husks. Even treehouses!
Building a House by Byron Barton
Simple text and simple illustrations show how a house is built, step by step.
Home by Carson Ellis
Wonderful illustrations of all kinds of homes – in the country and in the city; real or fanciful; large and small.
The Big Adventures of Tiny House by Susan Schaefer Bernardo
Tiny House is a small house with wheels. He travels all over, pulled by Big Truck. But he wonders if he can really be a home if he doesn’t stay in one place. Tiny discovers all kinds of traveling house friends on his adventures.
The Three Pigs: An Architectural Tale by Steven Guarnaccia
In this retelling of the classic fairy tale, the three pigs live in houses that resemble houses by famous architects.
More Books About Houses and Homes
Home Music
House Song (BeeBo World)
Parts of a House (Lingokids)
My Little House (Bindi’s Music & Rhymes)
House/Home Fun Activities
Shape House
Materials: construction paper, glue
Have a variety of construction paper squares, rectangles, and triangles prepared for this project. Ask the students to glue the shapes on their paper to make their house or apartment. After the shapes are glued to the paper have students add house features such as doors and windows with crayons.
Folded House
Materials: Paper, crayons or markers.
Fold large sheets of construction paper in half and cut the top in the shape of triangular roofs. Once you have a class set of folded houses ask the students to add the critical attributes of a house or apartment to the front. Next, they can open the house and draw what is found inside. (this project is the perfect companion to “In a People House”)
Class Mural
Materials: butcher paper, construction paper, glue, crayons or markers.
Using a large sheet of butcher paper (color of your choice) have the students each make a small construction paper house to add to the class mural. You might want to add the school as the central point on your “map”. Have the students add features such as roads, buildings found in your community, and favorite stores. You can even add environmental print for the stores like McDonald’s or Wal Mart. This mural could be a starting point for learning about homes, then extended upon when you learn about community. You could leave it up from the time you study homes until you get to community and then add the community features at that time.
Collage House
Materials: old magazines, scissors, glue, butcher paper, black marker.
Cut a large house shape from butcher paper. Divide the house into “rooms” using a black marker and hang on the wall near your art center. During center time let the students cut pictures for each room from old magazines and glue on the collage.
Build and Paint a House
Materials: wooden blocks, clean dry paintbrushes (can be different sizes)
Invite your students to build houses with the blocks. Then encourage your kids to use the paintbrushes to “paint” the house. (Painting is completely pretend. No paint involved.)
Add dollhouse furniture to the blocks center to stimulate more thinking about building houses.
House/Home Resources
Three Little Pigs Lesson Plans Bundle – These done for you lesson plans will give you an entire week of center ideas to go along with the story of The Three Little Pigs (and their houses).
Dramatic Play: Home Living – Use these printable props and ideas to create home life play in your dramatic play center.
Paper House Shape Cutouts – These paper house shapes can be used in your art center, writing center, math center (for color sorting or patterning), and for house vocabulary words (print the word on the shape).
Little Bricks – These building toys provide a tactile, weighted building experience in miniature scale.
Dollhouse and Furniture – With multiple rooms, dollhouse accessories and furniture, and two characters, this set provides a rich backdrop for creating narratives and developing social skills through pretend play
Check out more ideas and resources at the post Dollhouse Center.
