Building = Creativity

Hands-on projects can be exciting when you recycle and reuse common items. This week in our weekly activity we discussed tall ships. Creating a tall ship, whether from connecting blocks, piling up books, or building with boxes is a creative endeavor that lets young minds see the possibilities in common objects. We have all heard stories about the children who get a new toy and are more interested in the box. This is a creative mind at work!

Encourage all children to look at a pile of items and discover what could be created. Remember that great scene from "Apollo 13" when NASA experts dumped a box of parts on a table as they needed to make a part fit? They worked collaboratively and thought in unique ways. This is the kind of creative thought we need to be celebrating in our homes and classrooms.   

So...have all children find an item in the room. You may want to suggest they find objects that could be considered trash. Put them in a pile and encourage children to CREATE! What will they do? The results are almost always amazing!

Now, take this a step further. What could children create that might float in water? You could provide bubble wrap, Styrofoam, lightweight cardboard, certain egg cartons, pieces of macaroni, etc. What kind of tall ship might be built? 

Then encourage children to test out their creations in water. What happens? As children describe their inventions they are getting important expressive language practice.

Standards Alignment:

NAEYC - 2.A.11, 2.A.12, 2.D.03, & 2.J.06.

Head Start - III.C., IV.A., & VIII.B.