To begin the session, Jane introduced the idea of building on a larger scale. The first thing was to explore boxes, as a warm up. The children piled up boxes, building towers and knocking them down.
As the children got to know Jane a bit better, Jane introduced a small item of furniture that was in pieces. Not saying what it is supposed to be, Jane suggested putting it together. The children very quickly worked out how it slots together and how the pegs worked to fix it in place. Initially it was not in the right order, but still went together. Then the children took it apart and reconstructed it.
Then Jane introduced a dolls house, again in pieces. This time it had to be constructed using screws. With enough screw drivers for each child, they worked together over a long period of time and built the house. Even though it was a squeeze, the children all negotiated the space and made sure they could all fit in to build a bit.
After building the house, the children found toys to use in it.
Step 3
Moving out into the garden, Jane introduced some pieces of wood, with pre-drilled holes, some larger screws and screw drivers.
The children began constructing and fixing 2 or 3 bits of wood together.
They formed naturally into groups helping each other.
As their shapes got bigger, they decided to fix them all together. When all the pieces were fixed together, we placed it on the wall.
One child went and got some paint from the art area and then others followed. They painted the shapes that they had made.
The structure remains on the wall as the children’s own work of art or sculpture.