How To Set Up The Perfect Block Center Activities For Toddlers

In this post, I will be sharing how to set up block center activities for toddlers. If your classroom or daycare is anything like mine the block center is the favorite. I love a center play classroom for toddlers. It’s a great way to let your little students learn through play. I have been a childcare provider for over 15 years and have a lot of experience in setting up enriched centers, and a block center is essential in any toddler or early learning classroom.

Block Center Setup

First, we have to set up a block center in your classroom. This does not have to be overwhelming! I take on the motto simple is best, especially when working with toddlers. The two main things you will need to set up your block center are a shelf to place the block center toys on and a rug for the children to play on.

Block Center Shelf

When choosing a block center shelf for your classroom, consider your classroom space. I’ve taught in large daycare classrooms and in my home. Each of these two spaces would be set up differently. When I taught in a large daycare classroom, I had to consider a larger group of students, as in my home daycare I have a smaller group of students. On average I have between 2-3 young children playing in my block center at a time.

This is the block center shelf I chose to use in my home daycare classroom. I recommend choosing a shelf that can showcase the block toys well but also have drawers or areas you can put baskets for smaller blocks or manipulatives.

Block Center Rug

The next thing you need while setting up your block center is a rug. A rug serves four purposes in your block center.

1- Classroom Management: A block center rug defines the block area and outlines where the children can play with the block toys.

2- A rug provides a comfortable surface for children as they are kneeling, crawling, and sitting.

3- Let’s be honest, this center can get loud! A rug will absorb some of the noise.

4- Having rugs in your classroom, divides up space and makes the different areas look welcoming and inviting.

Just like when choosing a block center shelf, you want to choose a rug size that is comparable to your classroom. In my classroom, I have 2-3 children playing in the block center at a time, so can have a smaller rug. When I taught in a large daycare classroom, my block center rug fit 5-6 students comfortably.

I love this Melissa and Doug Road Sign rug. It’s perfect for a block center!

Block Center Ideas For Toddlers

Once the setup of your block center is created, you get to choose the activities and ideas for your block center. When planning block center ideas for toddlers, I like to rotate the block toys monthly. This keeps activities and ideas fresh and my little learners do not get bored with the items.

How To Organize Block Preschool Activities

Wondering how to store block center preschool activities? In my attic, I have two wire shelves that I use to house all my block center ideas and toys. These are heavy-duty and the metal shelves are adjustable so I can place them exactly how I want them. I also use banker boxes to store my themed monthly block center items. On the sides of the shelf, I place rotating items that I will use multiple times throughout the year. On the top shelf, I place some seasonal building toys that are a bit larger and do not fit into my banker boxes.

Storing my block center activities for toddlers this way makes setting up the center each month quick and easy. I can grab the themed box for the corresponding month and then I fill in with some rotating toys after that.

Block Center Toy Rotation

I stated earlier in this blog post that I like to keep things simple. Especially with toddlers, if you have too many items to choose from in a center your little learners will become overwhelmed and not play with any of them. You will find them dumping toys and getting bored really quickly. If this is happening in your classroom, I have the solution! Only place a minimum amount of toys out in each center.

Let me give you an example. If I have 2-3 kids playing in my block center, 7-9 options to choose from are plenty of toys. This is a win-win for both the kids and yourself. Now when you are planning out the items you want to place in the block center each month, you yourself have a guideline to go by. Let me share a couple of my block center setups with you.

What should be in a preschool block center?

This is the fun part of setting up a block center, deciding what you want to put in the center each month. I suggest grabbing a piece of paper and taking inventory of all the block center activities you already have. Next, write themed or rotated next to each item. Now you can break this list up into months and know exactly which months you will need to purchase new items.

Before I took inventory like this, I had way too many Christmas-themed block toys. After doing inventory I knew no matter how cute the toy was, I would not be purchasing any more Christmas block toys.

If you are wanting even more help on how to create a center toy rotation chart, sign up for my workbook “How To Keep Toddler Engaged and Learning? I share 3 secrets to keeping your sanity and one of those secrets is Toy Rotation! I will walk you through how to create the exact form I am talking about in this blog post.