Earlier this week, I shared the ten topics from our latest Family Unit Study: Architecture Around the World. This unit has been an absolute hit with the kids! They are loving the wide variety of hands-on activities—everything from watercolor art, to scavenger hunts, to STEM challenges and the architecture activity I’m going to share with you today.

And so, I bring you…

The Great Wall of Sugar Cubes!!!

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

You are 100% correct.

The Great Wall of Sugar Cubes is what we were planning on making, but…

Did you know we’re in the midst of a sugar shortage?! A sugar shortage!! (Say that three times fast.)

Alas, there were no sugar cubes to be found anywhere…

But, 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!

Architecture Activity for Kids: Build The Great Wall of China!

Materials

For this architecture activity, you will need:

• 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. (!!)

We also watched this National Geographic video, which was wonderful for really appreciating 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 how we could create our wall. We decided to feature one of the lookout towers, adding the wall to either side of it.

We started with a 7×7 square so we could add three windows to each side, just like in the photo we were using 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 and we could still make that classic castle pattern along the top edge. It would also give us enough room to add a wall to either side. Perfect!

Next, we hot glued our 5×5 square in 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 of 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, a pyramid, and—with the glue gun now turned off—there was lots of experimentation on how things like windows and archways could be made without glue to hold the blocks in place.

So much problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork!

If this sounds like something your little ones would also enjoy, I invite you to check out Architecture Around the World. 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 Family Unit Study

Thank you so much for reading!

xo
Sarah