Holiday ‘Making’!

Now that the New Year is approaching, and the excitement of new toys is in full swing, keep the ‘creating’ and ‘making’ going both indoors and outdoors. Hopefully the toys and gifts children received allowed for creativity and imagination to thrive. Following instructions certainly has educational benefits but toys which allow children to use their ideas and imagination to explore, build and discover other possibilities are preferable.

 

Indoors

What to do with all the boxes and card? Best gifts ever! Buy some masking tape and maybe a glue gun to give children the opportunity to create, invent and build. Maybe show them Caines Arcade

to inspire ideas. Add a few marbles or ping pong balls and ball runs can be built. Children of all ages can enjoy cardboard, tape, string and other recyclable materials. This cardboard run is quite something!

Batteries from toys can be used with some wire and a DC hobby motor, from Jay Car, to make their own moving toys or some LED’s to light up their creations.

 

Outdoors

Orienteering is lots of fun, place around the garden or indoors items which can be used to build a craft to float ….paddle pop sticks, tape, cotton, balloon, twigs, leaves….children have to collect the items using the map to the complete a challenge of getting a toy across the bath or pool. My girls have had so much fun over the years discovering the acreage and collecting objects to build a raft to get toys across the pool….one year it was real ducklings!

Making an obstacle course can be lots of fun and developing those engineering skills. There are some amazing ones built by adults but let children give it a go!

Using large sticks, rope and trees to build swings and ladders, bridges and cargo nets, the possibilities are endless.

Using sand or earth to create cities or islands with erupting volcanoes can be lots of fun. Add a little bicarb and vinegar with some colouring and away they go!

Throughout my blog there are many ideas to get children delving into STEM and STEAM just take a few moments to browse and there will be something to engage children during these holidays including:

Squishy Dough, EL Wire, Robot Challenges, Marble Runs, Robot arms, Story Wheels, Green Screening, Electronic sewing, Draw Bots, Binary Bracelets….

………and so many more….

Have a fun filled ‘MAKING’ holiday!

 

 

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Jackie Child
Jackie Child has been teaching primary aged students for 40 years in a number of countries. She is passionate about how children learn through constructivist pedagogy. She is a Teacher Librarian at St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School and a sessional tutor at Griffith University for pre-service teachers. Jackie doesn’t believe in standing still, there is always plenty to ‘do’ and learn!

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