Step-By-Step Guide to Building a Bruder Toy Construction Site in Your Own Backyard

Does your child stare in amazement anytime you pass by a construction site? Do they talk non-stop about the giant equipment they saw?

Surprise your construction-smitten kid with a Bruder toy construction site where they can dig and dump giant piles of sand using larger-than-life toy equipment.

Bruder construction toys are the real deal for your kids. They’re cool-looking, fun to play with, and will help them develop fine motor and problem-solving skills.

And as they play with their friends, they'll also develop language and social skills, while also sparking a love for learning about construction, engineering, and other related fields.

Be prepared to enjoy building this construction site as much as your kids, because this fun project involves just a couple of easy steps. You only need to:

• Determine the kind of construction work you want to imitate
• Gather construction toys, materials, and additional items
• Clear the selected area to prepare the construction site
• Set up the toys and other elements in readiness for play

With these simple steps, the child-friendly construction site will be up and running in no time; and your kids can start engaging in play-based learning.

So, put on some construction boots and helmets, and let’s begin working on the Bruder toy construction site.

Step 1 - Plan Which Construction Work You’ll Emulate

Understanding what goes on at different construction sites will give you an idea of what toy vehicles, tools, materials, and figure workers to include.

Construction involves building storied houses, factories, roads, or bridges, as well as renovating and demolishing them.

Is your child into building bridges, tall towers, or warehouses? Or is their passion in demolition and excavating? Take note of the kind of construction work they enjoy to help you create a more engaging and immersive play experience.

After figuring out what kind of construction to imitate, determine the size of the construction site. Make sure it’s large enough to accommodate the Mack Granite Low Loader Truck with JCB 4CX Backhoe Loader, which measures 93.5 x 26.5 cm.

The size should be ample to accommodate any other Bruder construction toys and visual elements, such as tiny buildings, that your children may add in future.

It should also be able to accommodate two or three of your children’s friends and their toys during play dates.

Step 2 - Determine How Much Space You Need

Let’s assume you have three kids and two of their friends come over, and three out of the five kids each have a large Bruder construction toy measuring about 93.5 x 26.5 cm. Let’s also assume they have several smaller toys measuring half the size of the bigger toys.

To accommodate the five kids—assuming it’s the highest number of kids at any one time—and their toys, and leave room for play, we need to do some calculations.

Three large toys, each measuring 93.5 x 26.5 cm, take up 0.7419 m².

Several smaller toys measuring half the large toys’ size take up about 0.1237 m².

Each child requires about 4 m², totalling to 20 m² for the five kids.

Therefore, the total area needed to accommodate the big and small toys and leave enough play room for five kids will be about 20.87 m² (or 224.37 sq. ft.).

Step 3 - Gather the Materials Needed for the Site

The materials you gather for the construction site must be free from hazards. For example, avoid sharp objects or heavy items that can injure a child if they fall on their hands and feet.

You’ll need the following materials to kickstart the Bruder toy construction site:

• Sand or soil for creating a base to enable a stable foundation for the toys and other additional items
• Toy landscapes that depict rocks and gravel to add realism to the playset and make it more engaging for your kids
• Tires or wooden blocks to create hills and valleys that enable your kids to practise driving vehicles up and down slopes
• Toy trees, bushes, or other plants to mimic vegetation and make the construction site look and feel alive

Pro Tip: Use sand or playdough to recreate realistic construction site elements like roads, trenches and ramps. Your child will have fun moulding and shaping these materials to create their unique construction site.

Step 4 - Start Building the Construction Site

The first step to building the Bruder toy construction site is to create a level base where everything else will be placed upon.

1. Mark out the flat area of your backyard that you’ve selected for the construction site and clear it of any sharp tree stumps or rocks.
2. Use a rake to spread the layer of sand evenly across the area, which prevents the construction vehicles from getting stuck in the sand.
3. Create hills and valleys by burying wooden blocks in the sand so that they form a raised surface, then place strips of old tires on top.
4. Add artificial or plant real grass in several places to mimic vegetation. For the trees, you can tie several leaves on a stick and stick them in the ground.

The minute you immerse yourself in the construction site project, you’ll discover just how much fun you and your kids can have making artificial hills and trees.

How to Set up the Mack Granite Low Loader Truck With JCB 4CX Backhoe Loader

With a realistic construction site in place, bring in the showstopper: the Mack Granite Low Loader Truck with JCB 4CX Backhoe Loader.

“Very detailed and sturdy. Made my boy very happy at Christmas. He now has a Mack truck just like dad’s.” — Kayleen

It's essential to note that the Mack Granite Low Loader Truck with JCB 4CX Backhoe Loader is a heavy toy and may require the help of an adult to set up and operate safely.

Here are the steps for setting it up:

1. Place the Mack Granite Low Loader Truck in the desired location on the construction site, ensuring that it is on a level surface.
2. Take the JCB 4CX backhoe loader and carefully place it onto the truck bed, lining it up with the locking strips.
3. Secure it after ensuring that all the parts are aligned. Double-check the locking strips and adjust them if necessary.

Ensure that the backhoe loader is properly secured. To prevent it from toppling over as your kids transport it, use the locking strips on the Mack truck to fasten it.

Add Construction Worker Figures

Adding three or four construction worker figures to oversee the work on-site will take the imaginative play experience to the next level.

The best place to put the construction figures is right next to the Mack Granite Low Loader Truck and JCB 4CX Backhoe Loader; or somewhere near it so that your kids can imagine themselves as the ones manning the heavy machinery.

Dress the workers in safety helmets and boots, not forgetting high-visibility vests. You’ll be amazed at how realistic they’ll look in their tiny outfits.

It’s also much more fun if you attach different tools, such as jackhammers, to the figure workers’ hands to make them seem like they’re working, and as a way of teaching your children about different construction tools.

You can find the workers and tools together when you buy the Bruder—Bworld Male Figure—Construction Workers With Accessories.

You can now encourage your children to imagine they are the construction workers operating the truck and backhoe loader.

How to Enhance the Construction Site Using Other Elements

As the children immerse themselves in their play, new creative ideas will come up for what is required on the construction site, which you can add one step at a time.

If initially your kids started with just excavating and carrying sand and gravel, you can now include other features such as buildings, bridges, or even toy lamp posts for the children to imagine they’re building at nighttime.

Here are several elements you can add to spice up the construction site:

Fence the Site

As with a real construction site, you can add a secure perimeter to fence off the area. Since your kids are learning, teach them that the importance of putting up a perimeter is to prevent unauthorised access to the site.

The Bruder—Construction Site Play Set is just what you need to make your kids imagine they have a perimeter. It consists of:

• 6 railings
• 4 light warning signs
• 2 horizontal warning signs
• 2 round signs
• 2 triangular signs
• 4 pylons

They’ll have fun imagining that they’ve secured their construction site from unauthorised access.

Add Several Buildings

After a while, your kids may get bored of just excavating and transporting sand and gravel. This is the perfect opportunity to introduce buildings so that they can make-believe constructing them.

Provide lightweight blocks of wood that they can stack on top of each other to signify a building rising in height.

At this point, a Bruder—Scania R-Series Liebherr Crane Truck with Lights and Sound will excite them as they use it to lift the wooden blocks and pile them on top of each other to make a building.

To mix cement, they can use the Bruder Cement Mixer—MAN TGA, which allows them to combine cement (ash can be used) with water in the drum, then pour the mixture out into a bucket.

Include a Few Roads

Roads are another visually attractive element you can introduce later on. You can easily make them from black rubber baseboards.

All you need to do is paint the baseboards with white acrylic paint to create the lane markings, and voila! Your kids have roads.

They can then mimic road construction by using the Bruder—Caterpillar Asphalt Drum Compactor and drive it along the roads to level them.

Pro Tip: Use recycled materials such as cardboard boxes and plastic bottles to create additional structures and obstacles for the Bruder toy construction site. This will encourage creativity and resourcefulness in your child’s playtime.

Bring Extra Vehicles and Equipment

As the children’s construction site expands, so does the need for extra vehicles and equipment.

A Bruder—MB Arocs Half Pipe Dump Truck will be sufficient to transport their gravel, sand, timber and other building materials. They can literally tilt this dump truck backwards to make the unloading of materials easier.

Where they need to dig holes to create foundations for buildings, roads, or bridges, the Bruder Excavator—Caterpillar 02483 is excellent for such jobs.

Also, how about adding an ambulance in case one of the construction workers gets injured? They can park the Bruder—Mercedes Benz Sprinter Ambulance with Driver at their site and call for it whenever one of their workers is injured.

Other items that can be added are shown below.

Bonus: Add realistic sound effects to the Bruder toy construction site by using a small Bluetooth speaker to play construction-themed sound clips or music. This enhances the overall engagement and play experience for your child.

Include Extra Workers

Since the work and number of equipment has increased, the site needs extra workers to manage the various operations. Bring in more male and female construction figures and tell your kids that you’ve hired more workers to help them.

You can also include municipal workers to keep the environment clean.

The children can use these construction figures to open doors or grasp, push, and pull other objects using their movable limbs.

Let Online Toys Australia Engage Your Children’s Creativity With an Extensive Range of Toys 

The table below summarises some Bruder toy equipment and their roles on a Bruder toy construction site.

A Bruder toy construction site in your backyard is a good way of providing creative play and learning for your children if they are interested in construction.

By bringing in the Mack Granite Low Loader Truck with JCB 4CX Backhoe Loader, your child can spend hours learning new skills.

Online Toys Australia brings you toys for all age groups that your kids will love. Our hand-picked toys from leading brands such as Bruder and Melissa and Doug will make your children’s playtime memorable.

We are the trusted toy brand in Melbourne, Australia since 2005, and are known for our competitive prices, excellent customer service, customer gift-wrapping, and same-day package dispatch.

“I placed an order and was sceptical at first. To my delight, the package arrived in record time and condition.” — Daniele Frazer / Australia

Whether you’re looking for an educational toy or just want to put a smile on your child’s face, look no further than Online Toys Australia.

Note: Always supervise children during playtime to ensure their safety. Avoid using small toy parts that may pose a choking hazard to young children.