The children
at my centre love to build and make things, so last week we put out a big box
of K’nex building bits. Just after lunch
I joined a group of children on the mat inside and observed their building. The
girls were concentrating on building long strands of eyes and J. came to me to
show her creation. “It’s my fairy eyes, they look after the fairies, they go
round and round the tree”. A few days
earlier we had walked over to the fairy trees to build houses for the fairies, and
J, A, and N were not only recalling and problem solving (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009), they were also improving their creative
abilities and imagination and as Vygotsky stated their ‘intellectual and social
competencies’ (MacNaughton, & Williams, 2009, p. 372). I replied
that I thought it was very long and inquired whether they did a good job. Just
as she was about to reply the end of her line fell off. She looked at me, back
to her model, and then back to me. We
both laughed at the same time and I asked her what she would do now, she
replied “Put more on”. We then had a discussion about where to find the eyes (in
the box and around the mat) and if she could make them stronger (she decided
not, but she could just keep putting them back together again). Meanwhile at the other end of the mat the boys
were making very different creations. All five boys were experimenting in
making spinning tops. They tried many variations beginning with a circle, and
adding spokes, handles and tips of different lengths. Each individual spinner
was then tried out and a discussion held to see how they could improve each
top. Even when they had made one which
worked very well they still changed it in an attempt to find a better design. The
New Zealand Curriculum states that this ‘adaptation and innovation” are at the
centre of technological innovation (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 32) . C. decided that he
was going to make the biggest spinner he could, but when he found that he could
not get it to spin at all he quietly dismantled it and made a smaller one. Eventually
they decided to use a short tip, a longer handle and spokes. They decided that the tops were a version of
Bey Blades, and there was much enthusiasm over their inventing of as C. said “the
best toy ever”. They then decided to try
a Bey Blades battle, to the point where T. added an imaginary pull cord to make
his spin independently. They soon realised that they did not work as well as
the real thing, but this did not diminish their enthusiasm one bit.
Using these
types of building toys helps in the development of manual dexterity, precision,
competence, perception, reasoning and judgement, which all help to develop
mathematical and cognitive skills
References
MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques
for teaching young children: Choices in theoryand practice (3rd ed).
Frenchs Forrest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whariki: He
whariki mataurangi mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum.
Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand
Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
Somerset, G. (2007). Work and Play. Christchurch,
New Zealand: Wyatt & Wilson Print Ltd.
Pat, I would never have made the connection between K'nex pieces and technology prior to your blog. When reading through the blog I was thinking "how is this connected to technology". Of course, I soon discovered the connection was the making of toys which had relevance to the children. This learning experience brought home to me the relevance of the relationship principle in Te Whariki (Ministry of Education, 1996). This principle relates to the reciprocal relationships that children develop with people,places and things (Ministry of Education, 1996). This is a good example of Vygotsky's theory of socio-cultural development where children learn through interaction with other people (Santrock, 2009).
ReplyDeleteWhat other toys or gadgets are the children capable of making? Maybe encourage the children to think of toys or favourite tv characters that they may be able to improve upon?
I found it interesting that this construction toy became a gentle fairy game for the girls and a battling game for the boys. Adaptation and innovation were certainly central in these games. I really like this connection equipment as it is only limited by a child’s imagination. If they think it, they can make it.
ReplyDeleteThis type of play promotes language mastery, and develops their prosocial skills, because as the children build they talk and bounce ideas off each other (Honig, 2007).
Construction toys that require manipulative play, develops the fingers, hands and wrist motor skills. They also help eye, hand and body co-ordination as well as develop a child’s accuracy, precision and competence. K’nex Connections would also be considered an intellectual game as judgement and reasoning is required to work out problems in relation to the shapes and sizes that are required. These types of toys lead into mathematical skills (Somerset, 2007).
References:
Honig, A. (2007). Play: Ten power boosts for children’s early learning. Young Children, 62(5), 72-78.
Somerset, G. (2007). Work and play in the early years. Auckland, New Zealand: New Zealand Playcentre Publications.
I never really thought about the technological practice K’nex provided, to stimulate the creative and imaginative minds of young children. We don’t have K’nex in kohanga but I think they are great sensory motivators for children. Put them in the hands of children, and watch them build worlds with them. This is awesome, Pat. “Let it Rip!” This is awesome Pat and yes I am a big fan of Bey blades – through the influence of my son! I absolutely adored reading how the children are capable and competent designers of their learning and teaching (Ministry of Education, 1996). They have the ability of bringing their creation alive, when given the space, time and patience to do so. Through active imagination, “their play is valued as meaningful learning and the importance of spontaneous play is recognised” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 82). They are making a lot of connections with essential skills through building social relationship skills, spatial thinking skills (Ministry of Education, 1996). The children are positively building fine motor skills and imaginations while experiencing the appreciation and delight of creating something fun all by themselves (Somerset, 2000).
ReplyDeleteHi Pat thank you for such a knowledgeable blog on k’nex pieces. This piece of technology is used by children every day and they have lots of benefits with it. When children play and explore these pieces either individually or in groups they develop their fine motor skills and exploring and expanding their imagination (Somerset, 2000). These types of toys also helps children to develop basic mathematical skills (Somerset, 2007).Your link to Vygotsky's theory of socio-cultural development where children learn through interaction with other people and environment is quite relevant to this example(Santrock, 2009). This can also be relate to Te Whariki , which states that children develop reciprocal relationships with people, places and things (Ministry of Education, 1996).
ReplyDeleteHave you ever considered children to mix and play with other connecting toys such as magnets and mobiles? We have tried it in our kindergarten it provides another level of dimension to children’s thinking and exploration.