Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The construction project

Because I'm so proud of it and because the kids had such a good time and the teachers were so impressed they asked for details and are going to do it again, I'd thought I'd talk about the construction project we did in Max's preschool this month. I don't have any pictures as I was leading the effort and actively involved, but the teachers did and I hope to get copies at the end of the year.

Station 1 - I bought some peg board (has holes) and bought a few all purpose screws and bolts that I cut into smaller squares with a jg saw. Each child had a chance to screw bolts through the holes with either large or small or both screws/bolts. They loved it, especially the girls.

Station 2 - Got some small pieces of wood, precut and some nails. Brought in a few hammers. Used the extra peg board to protect the tables and each child was allowed to "build" something. The loved it, especially the boys. Next time, I'd get either smaller longer nails or bigger wood as it started to split in a few cases.

Station 3 - Got some PVC of two different sizes that I cut up into smaller varing lengths and had different types of joints for each size and the kids could use it to build.

Then, there was the unoffical station 4 of the work bench with the toy version of everything that I fixed and brought back.

In addition, I brought in various screw drivers, wrenches, and a tape measure for the kids to touch and use and hold. They were a big hit, especially the tape measurer. We could have used another 1 or 2 of those.

Fun, easy, stuff. A little bit of prep work, but worth it. They loved being able to touch and use real tools.

2 comments:

Laura in L.A. said...

Debbie, you are so cool. :):) We had a "building station" at my Methodist nursery school way back in the late 60's, and I loved it. They let us use real tools to hammer bits of wood and spools and carpet remnants together. I'm so glad that kids still get to do fun stuff like that!

Love, Laura

Care said...

What an awesome project! Tape measures are a big hit at my house - E and C are forever stealing mine to play with.