Grab your construction hat and a blueprint — it’s time to build a house! 

The littlest ones in our homes need some great games too, and there’s few better than those put out by HABA! Building Site is their newest in the My Very First Games line (our favorite line for little ones!) and we’re excited to share about it with you!

How Do You Play Building Site?

Building Site can be played in a couple of different ways.

First and foremost, the materials can all be used in free play!

Second you can play it as a matching game! You are working to build the house and need to collect all the materials necessary in the proper order. Shuffle the construction cone tiles and place them in a grid next to the construction plan. Players will then take turns choosing a tiles, driving it over to the bear, and seeing if it matches the construction plan. If it does, they get to keep it there, if it doesn’t they put it back. Once both tiles for the construction phase you are on have been found, you get to bring those building materials to the construction site and build that part of the house. You continue in this way until the house has been completed!

Thirdly, you can increase the difficulty of the game by adding in the bird construction tiles. These give children who may be having an easier time matching the tiles a bit more of a challenge.

What Do We Think?

Building Site is an adorable game and perfect for any of your construction loving kids! 

I always love to first set the game components out with my toddlers and let them free play first. This gives them a chance to explore the pieces that they will be undoubtably excited to pick up and hold — especially the car. What I loved was that Harry (3) immediately recognized that the wooden blocks built something and he began putting them together to build the house. Letting kids explore the game in free play is great not only for their imagination, but also for the opportunity to help increase their vocabulary. We took the time to talk about what we were seeing, which parts of the house each block was, different construction jobs etc. My boys are very into construction trucks so they spent a lot of time just playing with the game like this! 

I liked that there was a memory element to the game. I’m huge on incorporating memory games for my kids, even at a young age; it’s so important! Building Site is not too hard that a child in that 2-3 age range can’t handle it, yet is still a challenge for them and provides good opportunities for trial and error. Rather than just flipping over the cones and trying to find them, the rules suggest that you pick up each tile with the dump truck, drive it over to the bear and then dump it out to see what tile you chose. At first this seemed to drag out the game a bit, but what I found is that it is a great way to slow down those younger, more excitable players while also giving them more time to remember which tile they discovered. That way, if they have to put it back, they’re more likely to remember which tile they found. At least that’s what I noticed with Harry.

Building Site has all the right materials to entice even older kids. Everyone had to have a turn building the house! My 4 and 6 year old sons were excited to get their hands on it and play along with their brother. Because the rules are simple enough, they were able to lead the game and help Harry play along. Not only does this give older kids a boost of confidence and good experience in helping out someone younger, but it also helped Harry feel “big” because he got to play a game with everyone. 

Kullerbu Track Compatible

If you also happen to have the Kullerbu system, the game does combine with that as well. The dump truck can drive on the tracks which can be made to connect the various construction material locations. The kids all really enjoyed getting to set it up with their tracks and design a little road for the truck to drive on. This just adds another layer of fun play to the game that helps keep those younger kids with shorter attention spans more engaged. Having the Kullerbu tracks is not necessary to the enjoyment of the game, but it is nice. This is the set we have and love.

Summary

Every kid should have a selection of great games for their current age. Building Site is a great first choice for any child’s first board game — especially if they aren’t quite ready for rules and you’re looking for a way to introduce games through structured play. Everything is really well made with beautiful wooden pieces, a sturdy dump truck, and nice thick cardboard that is tough enough for kids to handle! Building Site is a great addition in the My Very First Games line from HABA!

You can find Building Site on our Amazon Storefront HERE!

I recommend pairing this game with a great book on construction and building sites for a fun educational gift!
Here are some of my favorite book options that we love in our home:

If I Built a House, Mighty, Mighty Construction Site, Construction, Hello, World! Construction Site, The Ultimate Construction Site Book, Construction People,

Game Info:
Title: Building Site
1-4 Players 24mo+
Designer: Christiane Hüpper
Artist: Ines Frömelt, Anna Lena Filipiak
Publisher: HABA 

If You Liked This Post You May Also Like:

Dragomino Review
Our Three Favorite HABA Games
Tips for Gaming with Toddlers