MHK Play Studio Comes to You
Did you know that MHK Play Studio can come to you?!
We know that transportation can sometimes be difficult to go on a field trip, and we were thrilled to be invited into a local program to provide some additional learning experiences.
Miss Kasey and Miss Lindsey love providing outreach opportunities outside of the Studio walls and were thrilled to be invited into a local program for an hour of learning, engaging, and playing. Let’s take a quick look at what learning took place through a play based STEM approach.
As with most classes, events, and lessons, MHK Play Studio starts with a book and this experience was no different. Children were encouraged to put on their problem-solving engineer hat to listen to the book, Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beaty. This beautifully-illustrated tale of a girl and her dream to become a great engineer came to life while using the Novel Effect app for sound effects for the children to hear as Miss Kasey read the story. Afterwards, some of the children’s impressions included:
Being an engineer means to never quit!
Being an engineer is someone that builds things.
She made it work and kept trying.
Once their ideas and reflections were considered, children were given the opportunity to jump into different provocations to practice their skills at being an engineer.
Using the Kodo Kids Rubber Ramps, Korxx Big Building Building Blocks for elevation pieces, and Graduated Building Sticks, children immediately began to construct tunnels and roads across the floor. Some children became really focused on working together to figure out how to create tunnels and bridges for the balls to travel down the rubber ramp. Others were more intrigued with the ball moving from one end of the ramp all the way down to the other end of the ramp. It was awe-inspiring to see the children immediately begin to communicate, collaborate, and build with brand new materials together.
Another station consisted of small construction with loose parts from Kodo Kids. Bringing loose parts lended the opportunity to think about materials differently to do building at a tabletop space. Using Harlekino, Luxi Transparent Blocks Color, and Wooden Clothespins, some children chose to work independently to stack, build, and design a variety of contraptions. Below are just a few of the designs discussed:
“I built a water fountain to drink out of. You have to open the door here with this little block to go inside.”
“I built a castle for the people to go into and dance. See the different levels for them to go up into.”
“Look! I made a long structure. See all the colors I used!”
The last provocation provided children with the opportunity to practice fine motor skills, perseverance, problem-solving, and lots of engineering design thinking. For the first time doing this type of activity, children worked on mastering sawing cardboard, poking holes, and twisting the screw with the screw driver from the Makedo Tools.
As this was the first time children explored these materials, we saw so many learning opportunities in such a short amount of time. Reflecting as we left, Miss Lindsey and Miss Kasey thought of a variety of ways to extend the learning in just these ways:
What would their building look like if these materials were with them throughout the week or even year?
Would they think of ways to combine other materials to their engineering thinking?
I wonder what would happen if we brought in different elevation materials.
I wonder how long it will take them to discover elevation in their ramp play and how that will change their thinking.
What other materials could we bring back to further this initial session?
What if we encouraged children to document their learning?
Our team often discusses the learning that takes place when children have the time and space to come back over and over to materials. Consider having MHK Play Studio for extended learning opportunities in your own classroom!