STEAM in the Garden - Constructing Insect Houses using Natural Loose Parts

"Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better."

Albert Einstein

The children were gathered around a large landscaping rock, working together to arrange twigs and flowers they had picked from the ground nearby.

"I think that this side should be the living room and the bedroom can be over here," Jack gestured as he spoke. "The living room will be next to the bedroom and the ladybug can crawl across by using this little bridge."

"So what are these little sticks here for?" Mary pointed to a little row of twigs placed next to each other.

"Oh, those are going to be the bed." Olive answered.

"But that's way too big to be a ladybug's bed," Mary responded.

"Oh," Olive pondered. "I didn't think about that.

 

"That's okay," Mary smiled. "We'll just find more than one ladybug and then the bed will be the perfect size for them to share." 

Spring was in the air and the children were excited to discover that many little creatures were venturing out into the warm sun. Ladybugs, rolly pollies, and ants were abundant and this sparked the children's imaginations. Eager to 'help' the insects the children set to work building little houses for them. They searched the yard to gather materials they felt would be best suited to this task. 

 

Each day the children would return to the mini houses and continue their work, focused on creating the most aesthetic and functional space for whatever creature they had found that day.  

   There are four steps to the design process for young children. When I reflect upon the children's garden engineering of the habitats I observed these steps in action:

Identifying a Problem - the children felt the insects needed a home
Imagining and Planning - children brainstormed that natural loose parts could be used to design and construct a habitat and engaged in conversations about what this might look like
Creating - children spent time over many days creating different homes for different living creatures
Improving - children revisited their creations each day and revised their plans when necessary after they noticed new things about the insects or had engaged in conversations with peers

  

What might seem like a playful activity outdoors has the potential for much rich learning using an engineering mindset. When children create habitats outdoors they are participating in rich math exploration in action including:

 

-discussing, designing, and refining a plan

-classifying and sorting materials by common characteristics

-considering proportion as they build for specific insects

-using spatial reasoning and design as they manipulate materials

-thinking about measurement as they incorporate area and perimeter into their 'house' or discuss the attributes of materials (e.g., the heaviness of rocks, the length of sticks)

-counting materials gathered and used in the design process

-naming colours and shapes that emerge in their work

-using positional language to describe their creations

-thinking about balance and stability as they assemble materials 

-incorporating patterns or symmetry as they create aesthetic structures

 

It's amazing to notice and name the rich math learning that emerges in children's self-directed play outdoors. Taking photos and videos of the work, engaging in discussions with kids about their play, and reflecting upon the experiences can help educators make this rich learning visible to others! Sometimes nature is the most effective math teacher of all!

Fairy Tale Inspired STEAM Invitations in the Kindergarten Classroom

"I can help the goats escape that silly, old troll. All I need to do is just make a bridge that is so low to the water there is no room for the troll to hide below. That's the problem with the one in the story. There was enough room for the troll to hide. My bridge won't do that."

 

Young children are naturally curious about the world around them as they marvel and wonder about what they experience in their daily lives. According to Let's Talk Science this means that every moment has the potential for learning because children desire a deeper understanding of the world around them. STEAM learning in the early years is especially important because it helps prepare children with skills and knowledge for an unknown future. Let's Talk Science explains that STEAM activities can:

• Foster natural curiosity and creativity 
• Encourage independent and collaborative learning 
• Improve work habits and grades 
• Promote confidence in learning and ‘science identity’ 
• Promote language learning 
• Improve social-emotional skills 
• Build decision-making, problem-solving and critical thinking skills 
• Support inclusion and reduces gender disparity

In our classroom I have found that children are usually very motivated to help solve problems that appear in books we have read aloud and explored together as a class. In particular fairy tales that have likeable characters that need help evading a villain seem to elicit the most excitement and enthusiasm from kids. Sometimes STEAM invitations that are inspired by fairy tales naturally occur as a result of the children reading and discussing the text together in large or small groups. Other times I will invite children to engage in helping solve a problem by asking a question in our whole group meetings and inviting their ideas, or setting up an invitation for learning based upon the text.

One of the most popular invitations was based on the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. After reading the book I asked children to think about whether they could help the goats by building them a new bridge. On a table I created a quick playscape replicating the river by using green place mats for grass and blue paper for water. I offered baskets of different wooden loose parts for them to explore. I also added three toy goats and a troll that could be used as character props to help inspire children to retell the story after building the bridge.

    

During play time children worked collaboratively to build a number of interesting bridges. It was fascinating to discuss the attributes of each, and listen to the children's rationale for how the goats could evade the troll by using the bridge's features (e.g., close to the water, troll traps, fencing). 

      

  

  

Looking for some STEAM inspired invitations for other fairy tales? Here are some easy ideas to get you started:

The Gingerbread Man:

• build the Gingerbread Man a boat to use when crossing the river to avoid the fox
• design a fox-proof water suit the Gingerbread Man can wear when swimming across the river
• create a trap the bakers and animals can use to trick and capture the Gingerbread Man
  

Goldilocks and the Three Bears:

• build Baby Bear a new chair that will not break no matter how much weight is placed upon it
• design and draw a security system that will alert the three bears next time someone enters their house
• sketch a disguise for Goldilocks so the three bears will not recognize her
  

The Three Little Pigs:

• draw three new wolf-proof houses for the Little Pigs
• build a wind machine for the wolf that will work on a brick house
• build the setting of the story using various materials (e.g., wooden sticks, tape, play dough) that can be used to retell the story when toy pigs are added
  

Little Red Riding Hood:

• design an invisibility cloak for Little Red
• build a strong basket for Little Red that can hold many small objects without breaking (e.g., pennies, cubes, marbles)
  
• create a transportation system to move the basket of food from Little Red's to Grandmother's house
  

Jack and the Beanstalk: 

• build a beanstalk using tubes and card stock as tall as you can without it collapsing
• design, create and test a parachute that Jack can use to escape from the castle in the sky
• create a structure that the hen's golden egg can be dropped into that will keep it safe
  

Risky Play Inspired Math

"This stump is kind of wobbly. The first two are strong but when I step on the last one it wiggles when I stand on it." 

"I'm a little nervous to step on it. I'm not sure if it will tip, but I want to try and see if I can do it."

 

"Watch me! This stump is so tall that it helps me go super high when I jump off."

 

"I'm the tallest in our class when I stand on the big stump. I'm even taller than Mrs. McLennan!" 

The children were playing outside. I was fascinated as I watched them bravely climb onto different sizes of stumps lined in a row. The first two were solid and level but the last was visibly uneven. As children stepped onto it, it teetered and moved under their weight. Because it was much taller than the other two stumps, it was difficult for children to step onto, making it a challenging physical feat. Children lined up and attempted to balance on the uneven stump, jumping higher and farther from it with each subsequent attempt. By the end of our outdoor play time there was a line up of children waiting patiently for their turn - each eager to see if they could outperform their last big jump. 

Risky play, like climbing and jumping off stumps, is incredibly important for children. They feel empowered as they engage in difficult tasks, building their physical and mental endurance. Children persevere through difficulties, building their grit and stamina and feeling untouchable in their moments of triumph. When children are successful in risky tasks, they take pride in their achievements and feel unstoppable. They feel inspired to tackle new opportunities and go further in their explorations. This helps build their confidence and sense of self. They feel like they can do anything!

As a big believer in risky play I recognize the many personal and social opportunities for learning that exist in challenging activities. However watching the children explore the stumps, I recognized that risky play also provides multiple opportunities for authentic and engaging math learning. Children are often eager to mathematize their achievements by calculating how fast, how far, or how high they have moved. As the children climbed and jumped, they were discussing balance, height, length, and time. They counted how many children were in line for a turn and discussed their place within it. They created a system for measuring the height and distance of each person's jump, and tracked these to compare growth. They strategized for how to improve their performance and planned for creating a more difficult obstacle course using additional stumps for future outdoor play times. A simple natural object like the stump created opportunities for rich STEM learning that were highly motivating and meaningful for the children. The math they explored was child-centred and authentic, and deeply connected to their immediate world. 

It's easy to understand why educators (and families) shy away from risky play. We worry about children getting hurt and the consequences of these actions, especially in a playground or school setting. But depriving children of risky play sends the message to children that they might not be capable of achieving a goal. They may misinterpret our fear of the experience as a mistrust of their abilities. These hidden messages may result in children wondering about their own interests, strengths and needs, and fearful of taking other risks in their lives at school and beyond.

Encouraging and supporting risky play sends the message to children that as adults we trust and support them in difficult tasks. We acknowledge that they might be nervous or apprehensive to try something new, but let them know we are here to help them through the experience. Children develop a growth mindset and embrace mistakes and missteps as learning opportunities when they overcome an obstacle. 

Co-creating shared understandings and expectations for children regarding the play is a great way to get started. Have an honest conversation with children about the benefits and risks of the activities, and brainstorm how to keep everyone safe throughout the explorations. As children gain experience in the activity they can add ideas to the overall expectations for play. Encouraging sharing afterwards can help children articulate how the risky play went - what worked well, what needs to be improved, and what can be done differently in the future.

 

Over the course of several days the children continued to play with the stumps. As I observed them I continued to notice math emerge in their work. Joining as a play partner helped me notice and name the math I saw, and scaffold and support their inquiries. I'm curious to see how their obstacle courses continue to evolve as we enjoy the lovely fall weather and spend more time together outside.

Magnet and Marble Painting

In our classroom we love to engage children in science and mathematical activities. When you add art to the experience, you have what is know as a 'STEAM' activity. STEAM is an educational acronym that stands for science, technology, engineering, art, and math. According to Sharapan (2012), the arts are a natural part of the early childhood experience; art helps children to explore science, technology, engineering, and math concepts in new and exciting ways. STEAM helps to differentiate tasks and encourage children to explore and communicate content and knowledge using different modalities of learning.      

Today we set up an interesting provocation that immediately drew the children to our art area. We placed our clear sensory table on top of two large wooden blocks. In three cups were the primary colours of paint and metal marbles. 

The children were encouraged to find the marble and drop it onto the clear lid.

Using a strong magnet the children were able to manipulate the metal marble on top of the lid; dragging it around and leaving a trail of paint behind!

As more paint was added and the marble was moved around the lid, the colours began to mix together to form secondary shades.

So in addition to the STEAM components, colour mixing was also being explored by the children. There was also some interesting discussion about the kind of lines the marble 'wrote' including straight, curvy and zigzag.

Children also had to exercise control as the marble could easily fall off the lid if they weren't careful and deliberate with their actions.

 

 

Even with a lot of paint on the lid the children were able to manipulate the marble by using a very strong magnet.

Look at these lovely shades of new colours!

Once the child had finished exploring, we encouraged him or her to make a print of the art by placing a large piece of paper on top of the paint...

...and lifting it off!

Beautiful!

To learn more about STEAM please visit http://steamedu.com/.  

Sharapan, Hedda Young Children, v67 n1 p36-40 Jan 2012