This morning the children created kites using craft materials. They used different coloured paper, string and skewers to make the kites strong enough to fly. There were 2 prompt pictures given to the children; a traditional kite and a Japanese koi fish kite. After they finished crafting, we took their creations outside to try to fly them. The children used their problem solving skills and creativity to create their individual kites. Some of the younger children faced difficulties with the materials as they didn't know where to start and required some assistance. With one of the given prompts being a fish, some children saw this as an opportunity to create their own animals as kites. We had some bird kites and some different breeds of fish. Once the children were happy with their creations, they went to the ramp to fly them. While the kites themselves didn't go very high in the sky, the children were happy either way. We then discussed some ways we could make them fly a bit higher.
Today, we attempted to celebrate World Wind Day by creating an OSHC windmill. We used the example image to decipher which materials we would need to construct our windmill. We sorted through the craft trolley and found items that would work. We used the sample picture to work out the order of steps we need to follow to recreate this machine. Whilst we were unsuccessful in making the windmill properly functional, we used our problem solving skills to work out alternate ways to improve our machine.
We began this task blind, by guessing what the structure in the image was. Many children guessed it could be a helicopter but quickly moved to windmills as Nicky explained that we were celebrating world wind day. We spoke about how valuable wind is and its many uses, including generating energy and water as a renewable power source. Nicky explained that wind makes energy and that "We can save the planet with wind!".
As we constructed our windmill, we encountered many set backs. Our first hiccup was there was no way to make sure the windmill arms stayed at the top of the wooden skewer. We used our problem solving skills to fins a solution, which ended up being threading beads onto the skewer all the way to the top so that the windmill arms could balance on the top. This solved our initial problem, but brought on another, as the creation became too top heavy and could not stand straight. Again we offered the group our thoughts and solutions. We decided to shorten the length of the skewer, thinking that if it was closer to ground it could become stronger. None of our attempts were successful but it did open up plenty of conversations about how we could improve the structure if we were to attempt it again.
The children demonstrated astounding problem solving and awareness of their environment throughout this activity. The older students could relate this activity to the content that have just learned about in class, while the younger students expressed their creativity by suggesting multiple solutions to an array of problems. Everybody listened to each other and appreciated the suggestions offered by their peers with courtesy and kindness.
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