Connecting Links
New resources have been purchased lately for the indoor play area. The children find new things very interesting and are keen to touch and manipulate them. I have noticed the children taking an interest in the connecting link’s, individual links that can be connected together to create a chain. The children can view a laminated set of building ideas that the creators have put together to accompany this resource. I observed a lot of communication occurring because once one child had started to play with the links they became popular. J, “I need wheels for my car!” J starts connecting links. “What is helping your car to roll” says R. J responds, “Wheels help it roll”. R asked J, “ Can I help you make a car?, We can add some new things to your car”. The children worked together sharing their ideas and using their imagination. “Using a process approach to technology (similar to our own current approach to the creative arts in early childhood), it is the ’doing’ that is important, rather than the ‘product’. Children will be encouraged to design, make and appraise (DMA) their work” ( Smorti, S., 1999, p. 6).
Children’s curiosity led them to explore the connecting link resource. They wondered to themselves and used creative thinking to manipulate the links and create whatever their own imagination could represent. “ In early childhood the design phase may involve drawing plans, but is more likely to involve talking about the problem and possible solutions” (Smorti, S., 1999, p. 6). From what I had noticed I could recognize that creativity was being learned through play. Children can develop, “ the knowledge that trying things out exploration, and curiosity are important and valued ways of learning” ( Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 84).
I responded to this interest by remaining close to where the play was being investigated but made sure that the children had time and space to use this resource the way that they wanted to. My strategy was to observe the behavior, listen to the speech and document the experience. “Adults need to know how to support and extend children’s play without interrupting or dominating the activity and should avoid unnecessary inervention”. ( Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 83).
Photos from my centre and clip art
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki, he whaariki mātaurang mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2004). The role and potential of ICT in early childhood education: A review of New Zealand and international literature New Zealand council for Educational Research. Wellington.
Smorti, S. (1999) Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn 1999
These technological resources are great for the children to explore their ideas and develop their own working theories of how things are made and function (Ministry of Education, 1996). When the children are engaged in this type of activity I agree that “it is the ‘doing’ that is important, rather than the ‘product’” in this “process approach to technology” (Smorti, 1999, p. 6). This helps to “foster critical thinking, problem solving, and knowledge acquisition in children” when experimenting with resources by themselves or collaborating with others (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997 cited in Mindes, 2006, p. 111). I agree that it is important not to interrupt or dominate children when they are playing because we might stop or inhibit their creative interactions. However, it was really great that you were close by as it is important for teachers to be available to help support children's “construction of knowledge” when and where necessary as they devise new ways of engaging with the resources available (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997 cited in Mindes, 2006, p. 111).
ReplyDeleteGreat experience Serena. What a great resource and a great way for the children to freely explore the new resource and freely explore their ideas and creativity. I like how the children were able to play freely and were able to engage in conversation with each other and how the car was rolling, expressing the need for help and sharing their ideas to work together. I liked that you were able to stand back to not interrupt the children’s play but was still close enough to be able to document the experience for the children and close enough in case the children needed assistance. A great experience for the children to be creative with different resources that they haven’t used before and use ideas to create things the way they want to. Great job Serena!
ReplyDeleteI think this was a great experience to give the children to explore. Your letting them use their imagination and create something that is valuable to them. I think it's great how you stand back while letting them play around with ideas they have in their head and let them think and problem solve for themselves. This would make a great experience to write up a learning story for and to let the child see themself. It is also a great activity to let the parents see their child working on and shows them using problem solving and understanding how things work in the world we live in. Resources like this a great for the children to use their problem solving skills and to figure out how things work. Well done serena.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really good example of sharing and wonderful communication between the two children discovering the connecting links resource. You were right, the exploration that they are experiencing does develop their creativity in every way and adds on to their imagination as well. I always liked the way connecting links is being structured. How you can join each piece together from each angle creating all sorts of shapes. This helps enhances the children’s approach to technology. A good example is the two children at your centre designing cars and recognising the parts of a car example the wheels and the more time they spent designing cars, their vocabulary also increases especially learning the body parts of a car. I believe that each time children play amongst themselves, they always learn a new word just through new resources or something new they might have never seen before. Well done! Serena, this is awesome!
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