>
The children had been very excited to have Steve come to work with us. Steve started the day with a morning meeting together the children's ideas for projects. They were written down so that we could prioritise and revisit. To get a taste of the possibilities it was discussed and decided to attempt a bird house. Then it was time to draw the plans. What great ideas the children had. Next it was time to implement some of the plans. With guidance in using the tools, the children measured sawed and hammered. There wasn't time to complete the project, however there was time to have a reflective planning meeting. So many questions were asked. How would the bird get in the bird house? Did the hole need to be big or small? Why did a bird need a bird house? who are the predators of birds? What else might the birdhouse need? How busy we were documenting this flow of ideas. You'll have to watch this space to see the progress of the bird house next Tuesday.
Since writing this blog we have had a number of people asking how to contact Steve ... so we have put his contact details on our website
Wow, its great to see the children so involved in such an exciting project. I am really looking forward to seeing how the bird house evolves. I know the children are such experts using the carpentry equipment. I bet Steve was very impressed with their existing skills.
ReplyDeleteI hope you all enjoy working on this awesome project.
Gillian
I sure was impressed. So many different ideas. so much enthusiasm. I love it. What I particularly enjoy is when little peeps force me to stop looking at things with my grown up eyes.
ReplyDeleteYou see I looked in the wood bin at the beginning of the day with some dismay. I couldn’t see how we could make any kind of house from such material. Sensing my predicament Joel simply stood a number of sticks up on their end and confidently stated 'like this'.
And why not.
Note to self. Continue to listen to the voice without reason.
Steve, a comment and approach like that makes it abundantly clear why you engender such a cult following among our little 'peeps'.
ReplyDeletePlease keep it up, and I hope you enjoy your time here at BDK.
Steve, I just want to say how impressed I was with your attitude and enthusiasm while you were at Kindy. The children were captivated during your meeting on the mat and I am so impressed with the pride they showed in their contributions to the possible designs. You are a talented man! Thanks for sharing your skills with our precious children at BDK.
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting here in Florence with a group of teachers from Auckland who I met on the study tour in Reggio Emilia. We were reading the blog together and they were so excited to see what Steve is doing with our children, they would love to have him work with their children. We were all blown away by the lovely collaborative comments posted by everyone and especially by the deep and thought provoking comment from Steve. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteJust a side note - Joel has heaps of experience with the wood bin and especially joining bits of wood together, it's one of his favourite things to do. I'm glad you thought to share your knowledge with Steve Joel, well done!!
Marieke said that she likes Steve being at Kindy. She thinks a NZ flag would be nice to put on the birdhouse - it needs to be a NZ flag because we are "NZ people".
ReplyDeleteMarieke also thinks a big door would be good (a bit of a big gap) so that the birds can fly in.
Noah thinks that the door has to be small so the big birds, the cats and the dogs cant get in to eat the little birds that are in the bird house. Noah would also like a large bird trap to keep the little birds safe from the big birds... and a helicopter to help patrol the area!!!
ReplyDeleteMerieke. Ask me on Tuesday if I’ve remembered to bring in some 'dowel' (2 pieces) one for the birds to sit on outside in the sun and the other for our flag (great idea; perhaps New Zealand birds might feel at home then!).
ReplyDeleteNoah. See if you can find a small battery powered motor, some fishing line and a picture of a helicopter..... an idea is brewing!!!!
Yeah, I've got a idea. Put a hole in the roof but only a half of a hole, like a half circle, and then we can shut it so the rain can't get in, and then open it and the birds can get in. Would that be a trap?
ReplyDeleteLove your work Steve!
ReplyDeleteBen thinks Steve is cool and that he is a really good builder. He can't wait to help make a door for the birdhouse and thinks a go-kart would be fun to make
ReplyDeleteSteve - I would really like to know how to make a doll house for my dolls, but littler than the one at kindy, it should be like the one at Cascades that we saw yesterday, and we should paint it rainbowy. (whew!)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely idea. I know you can make things, so ‘How’ to make it might not be so important. If it were my dolls I would sit them down and have a real long chat with them and find out what kind of house they would like. How big, how many rooms, what kind of rooms, all that sort of stuff that is important when you want to live somewhere. Then I would get a big piece of paper and a pencil and just have a fun drawing some ideas. Then I’d ask my dolls what they thought of each of one.
ReplyDeleteYou see it’s really important to think about want they want and then how to make it will seem sooooooooo easy.
...and loads of colour is of course really important !!!