Construction play leads future engineers, architects and builders into the world of STEM as they experiment with different shapes and techniques. By introducing these kinds of activities to your kids, you can open their minds to a whole world of creative 3D modelling.
Our series of construction activities for kids offers more than an afternoon’s worth of play – these projects are multi-day, epic adventures in three dimensions and, as an added extra, can teach children about our world.
Kids will relish creating architectural structures like this Mayan temple (instructions below) from everyday craft items. Once they’ve conquered this, they can move onto the rest of our construction projects, which are perfect for school holidays or spreading over several weekends. Included are the Golden Gate Bridge, a Japanese pagoda and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And, as a grand finale, they can create our popsicle and matchstick Eiffel Tower.
The best part is the confidence and sense of accomplishment everyone will feel after making something with their own two hands. Happy building!
Air Dry Clay Mayan Temple
From humble beginnings – a packet of air-dry clay – an epic geometric structure grows in this temple-building activity. Kids will need to use spatial reasoning and engineering concepts to figure out how to make a solid base for their Mayan temple, and grow it symmetrically. Working with clay is excellent for motor skills and hand strength, which are both so important for handwriting. Not to mention, it’s a heap of fun!
Did You Know?
Unlike the traditional pyramid shape of their famous Egyptian counterparts, the pyramids of the Mayan culture of Central America are known for having a stepped structure. Most are found in Mexico, including the one at Chichén Itzá on the Yucatán Peninsula, which features 91 steps on each of its four sides to get to the top. Known as El Castillo, it is thought to be more than a thousand years old, but archaeologists have found two older structures built within it. Luckily, this project is not quite as complex!
What You’ll Need
- Educational Colours Rolling Pin 225mm
- Studymate Stainless Steel Ruler 30cm
- Little bowl or plastic container, for water
- Kadink Air Drying Clay 1kg White
- Damp cloth or plastic film (to cover clay to prevent it from drying out)
- Work board (try a chopping board, tray or placemat)
- Fork (or use the edge of the ruler)
SEE ALSO: 5 Fun DIY Air Dry Clay Projects Kids Will Love
How to Make It: Mayan Temple
Step 1: Tear off a small amount of clay, about the size of your thumb. Place it into your little dish or container and cover with water. Give it a mix and try to squish the clay into the water. The goal is to make a paste. Once done, set aside.
Step 2: Cut off about a third of the clay from the block. Roll, squish and manipulate the clay to soften it. Once softened, roll into a ball.
Step 3: Place the ball on your board and flatten with your hand. Begin to roll the clay out. As you roll it out, lift and twist the clay to ensure it is evenly spread until it is about 5 mm in thickness. Aim to create a square shape.
Step 4: Once the clay is rolled out, use your ruler to mark out a 13cm x 13cm square.
Step 5: Using the ruler as a cutter, press it down into the clay along the lines you’ve measured. Set aside excess clay, keeping it covered with a damp cloth or plastic film to prevent it from drying out.
Step 6: Cover the 13cm x 13cm square with a damp cloth or plastic film and set aside.
Step 7: Repeat this process using a smaller section of clay each time to create six more squares. The measurements are:
- 11.5cm x 11.5cm
- 10cm x 10cm
- 8.5cm x 8.5cm
- 7cm x 7cm
- 5.5cm x 5.5cm
- 4cm x 4cm
You can rework the excess from larger squares to make the smaller squares.
Step 8: With all the squares completed, it is now time to assemble the Mayan temple. Start by placing the largest square down on your workboard. Using some of the paste that was mixed up in Step 1 or a little water as glue, press the next largest square down on top.
Step 9: Repeat this process to layer the squares from largest at the bottom to the smallest at the top to create the pyramid shape, centering the next smaller square on each larger square below.
Step 10: Saving enough clay to make a small cube for the top of the Mayan temple (see Step 16), roll, squish and manipulate the remaining clay to soften it. Once softened, roll into a ball.
Step 11: Place the ball of clay onto the board and flatten it out with your hand. Begin to roll the clay out. As you roll it out, lift and twist the clay to ensure the clay is evenly spread. Aim to create a rectangle shape.
Step 12: Using the ruler, create four long rectangles that are 2cm wide. These will be used to make the stairs for each side of the pyramid.
Step 13: Press the edge of the ruler into the clay strip to make light indents along the length of each rectangle to imitate stairs.
Step 14: Apply a small amount of paste or some water to the back of a strip. Position the strip in the middle of a side and, starting from the top, lightly apply pressure to attach the stairs to the pyramid as shown in the images above. Trim any excess off the bottom of the strip with the ruler.
Step 15: Repeat this process for each side of the Mayan temple.
Step 16: Roll the last bit of clay into a small ball and, from there, manipulate and shape it into a cube. This cube will be placed on to the top of the pyramid as shown in the images above.
Step 17: Using the tools available to you, make an indent for a door on each of the four sides, and, near the top of each side, make a pair of parallel horizontal lines to create a roof effect. ‘Glue’ the cube to the top of the temple with water or paste.
Step 18: Leave the structure to dry for a minimum of 24 hours out of direct sunlight.
Step 19: After 24 hours, check the structure to see if it is dry. If it is, painting can begin. Choose any colour and apply one to three coats, depending on the desired effect. Allow drying time between coats.
SEE ALSO: STEM Activities for Kids: Marble Maze
This article was originally published in 2022 and has been updated.
