As the children entered the STEAM studio, they were greeted with a tough tray covered in cling wrap, pom-poms along the bottom of the tray, and a few pairs of tongs around the side.
Educator Amelie had sat down with the children, and we discussed some limits and how we could respect the experience and the resources being used.
Once limits were set, educator Amelie showed the children a way of using the resources in front of them, using the tongs to pick up the pom-poms and place them carefully along the cling wrap. The children had started by seeing how many pom-poms they could place on the cling wrap and then counting to see how many they balanced before knocking them off or attempting to balance more until they fell off.
Educator Amelie had also prompted the children to identify the different colours they had placed on the cling wrap; these included blue, pink, white, green, and yellow.
Learning Outcomes:
Children acknowledge and accept affirmation.
Children apply a wide variety of thinking strategies to engage with situations, solve problems, and adapt these strategies to new situations.
Children are open to new challenges and discoveries.
Children develop a range of skills and processes, such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesizing, researching, and investigating.
Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination, and reflexivity.
Children increasingly cooperate and work collaboratively with others.
Children increasingly cooperate and work collaboratively with others.
Children manipulate equipment and manage tools with increasing competence and skill.
Children manipulate objects and experiment with cause and effect, trial and error, and motion.
Children manipulate resources to investigate, take apart, assemble, invent, and construct.
Children take considered risk in their decision-making and cope with the unexpected.
Children try out strategies that were effective to solve problems in one situation in a new context.
Constructivist: Vygotsky
