Pumpkin STEM

We had fun today creating some "gates" to hold our little pumpkins. The Kinders worked in pairs, so there were only two little pumpkins sitting on each gate, which was probably a good thing. This was our first STEM challenge of the school year, and it was a challenge. But, I have to say I am very proud of the perseverance of my little cuties. They worked diligently for nearly an hour to create a structure to hold their little pumpkins (that, by the way I grew in my garden! This summer's garden was my best ever & I was so excited to be able to bring in enough pumpkins for all 15 kids to get one).  Here are some pictures of our fun.

These little guys worked off a plan they had drawn up yesterday. (It didn't work out how they planned, but they didn't get discouraged.

The first structure is the result of all the work done by the boys in the first picture. After all of their efforts they were thrilled that they were able to support their pumpkins. They cheered, "We have a gate!"

Cardboard Day

Recently my class participated in a school-wide Cardboard Day. We spent the entire day (when we weren't at recess or specials) creating. It was so much fun! My Kinders love to create & build things, so this day of STEM was right up their ally. 

For about three weeks students brought in boxes ~ I wish I had taken a picture of the huge pile of boxes that accumulated. It seemed like an overwhelming amount of boxes, but with the all the K-5 classes participating there wasn't much left over. In addition to cardboard parents donated lots & lots of duct tape. (I spent a lot of the day tearing strips of duct tape for the kids.)

Each grade level chose a task for their kids: kindergarten: something that you can fit in, first: something for their year-end camping theme activities, second: rocket ships, third: something that will hold a third grade, fourth: marble roller coaster, fifth: zoo animal habitat.

We began the day with some planning. Before starting we discussed some guidelines: only take the boxes you need, return what you don't use, don't cut corrugated with classroom scissors, etc. The kids were allowed to chose their partners/groups. Because this was a fun day of creativity I wanted to let the kids pick who they wanted to work with, and it worked out well. They pretty much split themselves into the same small groups & duos that they usually hang out with during play time.

These two pictures show the planning stage. The kids were instructed to discuss what they wanted to make with their groups & to sketch out a plan. 

The bulk of the day was spent creating. It was fun watching the kids figure out what to do when confronted with a problem. These girls are working on a wall for their house.

This group of boys started out making a fort, but ended up making a robot. Not exactly something that you can get  inside of, but, hey! we're in kindergarten, a very flexible kind of place.

This little girl and her partner made a musical "playground." The top of the box features some musical instruments (you have to love their imagination!). M is putting the finishing touches on the dance mat portion of their creation.

These smiling boys had a lot of fun creating an ever-changing project. 

They are the ones who ended up with the robot below.

The little guy in the picture below decided to work on his own to make this car. He was really proud of the fact that it was sturdy enough to hold his weight & had cargo space under the seat.

This girl and her partner worked on a house that featured a chimney, mailbox, and outdoor TV. They even  created a chair to relax in while watching television.

Another solo worker. This little guy made a comfy seat.

This day was tons of fun, but really tiring. One of my kiddos said, "I'm so tired." at the end of the day, and others agreed. It was so busy ~ the kids worked all day long! I think they could have done more than one day of "cardboarding." I guess they will have to wait for next year.

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

I've posted before about how much this year's Kinders love to build & create things. They love to make things out of blocks, Lego, Playdoh, paper, dominoes, etc. so I figured that they would be all over a kite making STEM project. And, they were! To prepare for our big Friday afternoon of kite making I checked out books about kites from the public library, bookmarked a bunch of You Tube videos about kites, and even purchased some kites to examine. We used the books & videos to research kite making. The kids used scrap paper to make practice kites, and sketched out plans with their teams all week during playtime. One little cutie even made a trial kite at home and brought it in to discuss with her team.

On Wednesday they met with their teams to build prototypes. Because I was being observed that day I don't have any pictures. But, I have lots of pictures of our construction & test flights.

Watching videos of kite festivals and looking at design books prompted this team to build a bee kite. The kids in each team were assigned a job: recorder ~ responsible for sketching the group's design, materials manager ~ responsible for getting the materials for the group, speaker ~ responsible for presenting the completed kites, teams with four members had a timekeeper who was responsible for keeping the group on task. Everyone was given equal voice in the design & choice of materials.

Once the design was made, the recorder wrote out the list for the materials manager to take to the supply center. I had sent home a letter requesting donations of kite making materials. I was not disappointed! Parents sent in paper lunch bags, plastic garbage bags, tissue paper, foil, cellophane gift wrap, craft sticks, BBQ skewers (with points cut off), drinking straws, lots of (good quality) masking tape, string, and ribbon. The day before we made our kites the kids got to check out the materials so they could start thinking of what they wanted to use.

It took several attempts for some teams to get their frames put together. After we put the kites together we discussed what was the most difficult part to make ~ several teams said that the frame was the most challenging part. This team used straws for their frame.

These girls worked together to create a butterfly kite. Their collaboration was great! They used straws & BBQ skewers for their frame. 

These cuties really took this project seriously ~ they spent the week planning and discussing their kite design. After we flew our kites outside their kite was pretty ripped up. I asked the kids what they would do differently if they were going to make a new kite. They decided that while the colorful cellophane was pretty it wasn't sturdy enough. I left the kite making materials out this week & told the kids they can make another kite this week if they want to try to make a new one using what they learned from their first attempt. Not surprisingly, these girls are working on a new design.

You can see the foil in the tub that they first tried to use as their frame. It was fun to watch the kids try different things as they worked. I cautioned them not to waste materials, and they didn't. Of course lots of things needed to be tossed, but not in a wasteful way. I wanted them to feel free to experiment, and we had a great supply of materials so we didn't run out. 

The counter behind these guys served as our supply center. The materials managers brought their teams' tubs to collect the items on their lists. I helped them the first time they stocked up on supplies, but after that they were free to get what they needed as they worked.

These boys used a plastic garbage bag for their kite sail & a combination of BBQ skewers & straws for the frame. Their kite was really simple in design, but flew really well.

The speakers got to present their kites to the class. We ran out of time for this part of the project last week, so we shared & flew them today. If you want to try this activity be sure to plan for more time than you think you will need. The kids were pretty disappointed when we didn't get to try the kites Friday. But, as it turned out today was an unbelievably warm & sunny day (83 degrees in April is a gift!).

This team used lots of ribbon and part of a TP tube as their handle. 

I love this team's handle ~ the little designer is explaining how his handle is a ring made of folded paper that will fit on your wrist for "hands-free" kite flying. When hearing that this design left your hands free one cutie quipped, "You could text when you fly your kite!"

We went outside to try out our kites right after lunch (which was perfect because no one else was on the playground at that time). The kids were so happy to have the entire soccer field to ourselves! They were so good about taking turns flying the kites. I took a bunch of pictures, but because they were moving so fast only a couple of them turned out. 

This was such a fun & educational project! With only 31 days left in this school year and a school-wide "Cardboard Day" coming up in May I'm not sure if I'll have time to plan another STEM day. But, then again I do have to keep Kinders engaged for 31 more days, so maybe I will. :-)

Let's Play!

If you follow me on Facebook, I'm sure you are familiar with my opinion on the importance of play. I believe that play is a vital part of a child's development & needs to be included in everyone's daily schedule. My Kinders get to play for about 20 - 25 minutes each day (they also get two 20 minute recesses daily). Countless studies have shown the value of play. Kids practice social & verbal skills while playing, but the benefits don't end there. The "brain break" provided by play helps improve cognitive skills, thinking, behavior & attitude, focus, and (dare I say it) test scores. With the current fixation on testing & test scores, one would think that all students should be given plenty of time for kid-directed play.

As I said, my Kinders are lucky to be given ample time to play: large motor twice daily at recess & creatively at the end of each day. During our free play (called Developmental Centers) my kiddos get to do things such as color, create books (using a stapler ~ such fun!), play in the kitchen area, read, play board games, do puzzles, build with blocks, play with playdough, and make Lego creations. Of course, this is a partial list of the free-choice activities that are available.

But, one thing that is not available during play time is technology. Our Developmental Centers are unplugged! At first students asked to use the computers & tablets during play, but after being told "no" enough times they don't bother to ask any more. I decided to ban technology during play time because I felt that they get more than enough screen time outside of school, and far less than enough creative play outside of school. Playing on Mom's phone is quiet & simple. Making a race track with blocks and playing with playdough is noisy & messy. But, kids learn from noisy & messy. And, noisy & messy is more fun.

If your admin isn't convinced on the importance of play, here are a few pictures of "STEM-like" free play in my classroom. Just looking at them proves that "play is the highest form of research."

These little guys created this wall "to keep the girls out." While I didn't really approve of their reason, I am a fan of the construction. Look closely ~ they needed to piece together some of the wall. I dare anyone to tell me that they wasted their time!

Another awesome block creation. The above wall was all about fractions, this one speaks of symmetry. Hmm, looks like these kids are using higher levels of math than what's on the kindergarten CCSS! And, they look pretty happy about it, too.

Recently they have been playing with the dominoes. At first they made simple lines, but soon moved onto intricate patterns with swirls, levels, and multiple lines. They have changed locations and even included other objects within their domino runs.

It took a while, but they figured out how to get two lines to fall. I would say that this gave them lots of practice with problem solving & perseverance. 

Check out the arrangement of the dominoes these girls are trying. (They did learn that the top of our check in board wasn't the best spot for a domino run, but they figured this out on their own ~ I didn't tell them.)  Last week a group of boys used blocks as dominoes & made a pretty impressive run with the blocks going up a series of steps. Unfortunately I didn't grab my phone when they called me over to the block center. I told them that they would have to rebuild it so I can take a video of it in action.

I do try to take videos of their projects in action whenever possible. They love to see themselves, and I attach the pictures & videos to my newsletter for the parents to see the amazingness of their kids.

We have a little tub of these little linking things. (They were inherited, I'm not sure what they are called.) Anyway, the kids really like them. This little boy made a robot with them. I've seen a lot of airplanes and rockets made from them. Creativity at work!

I just realized that this post mostly featured boys. There are a couple reasons: I have mostly boys, and the girls don't seem to build as much as the boys. I'm not sure why, but because I let the kids pick what they do during Developmental Centers, I figure they are reaping the benefits of kid-driven play, too.  (I need to take some pictures & write another post on play. It won't be too hard, because it's something I really believe in...) Click HERE to read an earlier "Let's Play!" post. Get the poster below for free in my Teachers pay Teachers store HERE.

Get this poster for free HERE!