::: geo boards – made by the children!
We have just one geo board at kinder which we made about three years ago … sad, we know!
The children of 2010 have used this board …
a lot more than the children in the past so we decided it was time to make some more.
Only this time we wanted the children to make them … not us!
We picked up some lengths of pine timber from Reverse Art Truck over the week-end and brought in the hand saw so the children could cut the timber up.
We don’t have a vice unfortunately but these large clamps worked beautifully.
Once we helped the children to get started they were off and very determined to complete the job themselves.
We find our children just LOVE doing “real work”.
Once the timber was cut up it was time to sand off the splinters.
Instead of just banging nails in anywhere we asked the children to mark out a plan on the wood as to where they wanted their nails to go …
and see if they could hammer their nails in place!
They did an amazing job.
These children continue to blow us away every single day!
Some children chose to paint their geo boards …
while others were just too keen to get down to the business of playing with them.
Throughout this project lots of play based learning took place …
with new language like ‘geometric’, maths concepts, physical activity, hand eye co-ordination, patience, turn taking and sharing of equipment.
Tags: geo boards, hammers, nails, saws, timber
I’ve been thinking about doing this for ages – this is the inspiration I needed. Fab! I love the variations created.
::: Thanks Anna they were certainly varied. Each one unique to itself!
Such wonderful variety! And you are so right, kids know the difference between real work and play work. They learn so much, and gain so much confidence, tackling projects like this and it’s heartening to see them take on the responsibility of being “allowed” to use the real tools.
I don’t know if you’ve run into this problem because you are working mostly with 4-5 year olds I think, but I’ve found that the younger kids (2-3) and some of the more timid older ones really struggle with those tiny 7 oz. hammers we always give them. They have to swing them so hard to actually drive a nail that they have a tendency to lose control making the process so much more challenging than it needs to be. I’ve decided to invest in a couple 16 oz. hammers and see if those don’t work better for the kids. They shouldn’t have to swing so hard, which ought to improve their aim. I’ll let you know if it’s true.
::: Tom we totally agree on the weight of the hammers. As we watched the children struggle at times to get the nails into the soft pine timber we commented on the fact that there really isn’t enough weight in their swings and that a ‘real hammer’ would have to be easier for them to use. I’m going to take a couple of my hammers in this week and see if it helps. Please let us know how it goes at your end too.
Nice work, extending hammering – I do run out of possibilities for hammering, so this will be very useful. Thanks!
::: You’re welcome Louise.
Love, love, love the way you guys genuinely involve the kids every step of the way. I’m feeling pretty disillusioned at the moment about our inability at preschool to be able to do things like this due to our ratios. We have 3 teachers a day for 25-26 children and it seems that we spend all our time chasing our tails and never seem to be able to move forward to try new things or put in place all the fabulous ideas that we have. I’d love to do more woodwork with the kids – I’d love a permanent woodworking area available everyday – but it just isn’t possible with 3 staff. One needed to supervise the activities at the woodworking table means that the other 2 staff have responsibility for all of the other kids, and with a handful of very new just turned 3′s thrown into the mix it is full on.
So, long story short – would love to be able to do what you do, and hopefully when the dust settles we can.
::: We totally understand where you’re coming from Jenny. We did have to put this idea off a couple of times until we had enough adults around.
I love that becasue you let them decide where to put the nails, all the borads are different. Are you going to let the kids take them home, or keep them as a resource at preschool?
::: Erin the children have taken them home … they were too excited to show their families what they had made to leave them behind! BUT we have plenty more timber so hopefully this week they will make few to keep at kinder (fingers crossed)!
I love this idea so much. I have just been letting my kids help hammer in the backs on a couple of pieces of furniture and they LOVED it. I am going to be grabbing some old boards and making geoboards now for sure. Thanks for the inspiration as always!
::: Good on you Catherine … we hope your children love making them just as much as ours did!
I love the different configurations of the nails. And they each work just like your other one. Your kids are great workers – learning so much about math and science while working.
I hope you get some other ones to keep at kinder!
::: They loved this project so much Scott that we have gathered up more timber over the weekend to see what else they can come up with.
LOVE that the children made them and especially that they could decide where to put their nails! AWESOME!
happy day!
::: Thanks Marcia!
I love these and it looks like the children did also! This week we used geo boards that we made out of medium sized tree biscuits. They looked fantastic.
:: Ooooh they sound interesting Bianca!!!
Every time that I see an ideia in your blog, I feel happy and sad at the same time. Like that mud activitie, this would be another one that is forbiden in my country. Why? Because of the nails and the danger of tetanus.
It’s amazing to see how things have evolved in my country in a mather of years. When I was a child in kinder, I remember playing with geo bords, nails, mud, play in the sand…. now…. all of this ir forbiden… and seen by the parents has dangerous…
A note to Jenny
I wish I had 3 adults in a class. In here we have 2 for 25 children. That’s the norm.
::: That’s a shame Nexita!
I have lots of boards already cut from when we re-did our fence. I was going to let the older kids just bang nails and create something, but this is a much better idea. My little one is going into kinder. The rest of the kids are 3 and under…not sure if it is a good idea to give two and three year olds nails and a hammer…but i can think of something else to do with the boards. Maybe paint or color them…How did you cover the kids eyes. I have a few that are not mine and I would love to post pics of our activities, but protect their identity too.
::: Tammy with your little ones you could start off by giving them some polystyrene to practice hammering the nails into. It is very easy and it gives the children a great idea about hitting the nail and not their fingers. If you are not happy to give them nails, golf tees are a good alternative! Plastic safety goggles for eye protection can be bought at hardware or discount stores ENJOY!
Wow!! that was fantastic!! I am an early learning consultant and have been on the floor for aeons….what you are sharing today just blows my mind away. A great way to enable agency…confidence…problem-solving, learning, a great way for them to take responsibility of their own learning, loved how they are treated as individuals….shown respect for their contributions….an environment that is so condusive to learn and grow…..A strength based program….Way to GO!!!!!!
Thank you for sharing this inspiring space….Thank you….Thank you!!
Sincerely,
Radha
::: Thanks again Radha … And you’re welcome!
WEll done such inspiring practice …..
Radha
::: Thanks Radha.
