Do you know all 7 Wonders of the World and what makes them so special? I want to ignite your child’s curiosity about some of the wonders of the world and the fantastic architecture that goes along with them. I know one great way to ignite learning in children is through hands-on activities. This fun and stimulating architecture activity will surely get those brains turning and curiosity flowing—we are going to build the Great Wall of China together!

This activity is from Architecture Around the World, one of my Family Unit Studies. This unit has been an absolute hit with the kids! They love learning about other wonders of the world through a wide variety of hands-on activities, from watercolor art to scavenger hunts, STEM challenges, and the architecture activity I will share with you today.

And so, I bring to you…

The Great Wall of Sugar Cubes!!!

I know, I know. I hear you. “Sarah, those are NOT sugar cubes!”

You are 100% correct.

We were planning on making the Great Wall of Sugar Cubes, but… like any busy mom, I forgot to add sugar cubes to my grocery list, and since I am a bit out in the country, I wasn’t going to make another stop.

So, as a seasoned homeschooling mama and a Friends fanatic, I knew exactly what to do: PIVOT!

Fast forward one day (thank you, Amazon), and we now have a large supply of little wooden cubes, perfect for building a Great Wall of Sugar Wooden Cubes!

Free Great Wall of China Activity Bundle

Before we get started, enter your email address below to enjoy this awesome Great Wall of China activity bundle. Once you enter your email address, you’ll be instantly sent your free activity bundle. You’ll also be redirected to the How Wee Learn Shop, where you can take a peek at my ever-growing collection of Family Unit Studies.

Architecture Activity: Build the Great Wall of China!

Materials

For this architecture activity, you will need the following:

• sugar cubes (or small wooden blocks)
• cardboard for the base
• white glue or hot glue gun and glue sticks
• paint, tissue paper, popsicle sticks, and other crafting supplies (optional)

Instructions

Before we started building, we learned all about The Great Wall of China. Did you know that The Great Wall of China is the largest man-made structure on Earth? It is made up of a system of several walls built over a period of 2500 years. Wow!

We also watched this National Geographic video, which helped us appreciate the scale of the wall. As we watched, we painted some cardboard green to use as our base.

Now, onto the building!

Before gluing anything, we played around with different ways to create our wall. We decided to feature one of the lookout towers and add the wall to either side of it.

We started with a 7×7 square, which we could then add three windows to each side, just like in the photo we used as a reference.

When we laid out the 7×7 square on our cardboard, however, we realized it was going to be too big!

So, back to the planning stage. Eventually, we decided on a 5×5 layout so we could have two windows on each side of the tower, keep the classic castle pattern along the top edge, and add a wall on either side. Perfect!

Next, we hot-glued our 5×5 square to the middle of the cardboard base and planned how our path would curve out from each side.

With the size and shape settled, it’s time to build UP!

Using the hot glue gun, we added layers of wooden blocks to our tower and wall.

But… something’s missing…

The kids decided we should add one of those little peaked roofs to the top of our tower. With a bit of problem-solving, they decided to make a 3×3 inner section and wiggle it into the center of the tower, hot-gluing it in place for good measure.

Success!

But… it’s still missing something…

Looking at our reference pictures, we noticed all the lush greenery surrounding the wall. So, we cut some green tissue paper into squares, bunched them up, and glued them next to our tower.

We also got out some popsicle sticks and added a roof over our lookout tower.

Perfect!

This architecture activity sparked such an interest in my children!

Our leftover blocks were turned into a mini Colosseum and a pyramid, and—with the glue gun now turned off—lots of experimentation was conducted on how to make things like windows and archways without glue to hold the blocks in place.

So much problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork!

Architecture Around the World Family Unit Study

If your little ones would also enjoy this architecture activity, I invite you to check out the Architecture Around the World Family Unit Study. You can see a sample of the unit and get your copy right here: https://shop.howweelearn.com/products/family-unit-study-architecture-around-the-world.

Architecture Around the World is also available as part of my Little Entrepreneurs Bundle.

Thank you so much for reading!

Sarah
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