If they love to build...

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As the year progresses it is interesting to see how the interest of the children has changed and been influenced by past experiences. After our trip to the ROM many of the children would use the Pink Tower in conjunction with the Broad Stairs to “build” the Museum. The building has a very geometric entrance area that drew a lot of attention while we were there.

Building on their interest in architecture we have introduced a set of cards, each with a picture of a famous structure. These include but are not limited to Big Ben, Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Water Cube, the Bird’s Nest, the CN Tower and the Eiffel Tower.

At first we looked at the photographs and discussed the names of the buildings, which quickly led to where they are located in the world and what are their uses. Due to high interest it was a mere day or so before they could all identify each of the buildings by name.

With little encouragement I suggested that they use the materials available in the classroom to “build” these structures. The challenge was one they took up with a vengeance. One of the youngest members of our classroom got out his mat and carefully chose the card with the CN tower. He sat for a few minutes examining the sensorial shelf before selecting the Broad Stairs. Standing each of the prisms on their end he built a structure using the broadest until just as high as he could reach. He then sat down and took the card in his hand. Looking at his card and then to the structure he’d built several times before he looked to me confused. I stepped in and asked if he had a problem. Pointing to the rounded part of the CN tower he said “We don’t have anything that makes that shape”. I assured him that there had to be “something” we could find. Within moments another child who had overheard the conversation made a couple of suggestions. The young architect took both and tried them on the top of his structure, in the end he did use one of the suggestions, a rounded heavier lid from another piece of work. With that problem solved he sat down again and examined the photo. Declaring to no one in particular “Now I just need this part here” as he pointed to the top most point of the photograph. Carrying his card with him he did another tour of the class before exclaiming “Hey one of these would work, look it’s got an end on it” showing me as he walked back to his mat. Standing on his tippy toes he reached up and placed the tall thin cylinder from the cylinder block on the top. Once again he referred to his card and then his structure, satisfied that he was finished he asked if I could look at his building. He was proud of his work because he’d made the choices, solved the problems and had succeeded in completing his work.