When we took apart an old computer the other day, the children instantly formed a team of collaborators. Before the side was even off of the tower, the children were negotiating, trading tools, offering and accepting advice, squealing with delight at each success (both of their own and their peers) and learning from various mistakes (This wrench isn't helping much, I need a screwdriver...oh that one is the wrong shape...but this one is too small...).
In Teacher Tom's blog (I love his blog by the way) he says:
"Humans are driven to use tools to imprint their vision on the world. Almost everything we make or do involves, at some level, a tool, the mastery of which requires practice. In preschool, we need ample opportunity to sort of mess around with a wide variety of tools like wire, scissors, hole punches, hammers, paint brushes, saws, glue guns, pencils, screwdrivers, knives, and paper clips. We need to get our hands on brooms, clothes pins, drills, shovels, rulers, pulleys, trowels, staplers, and rakes. As humans we have being alone and we have talking face-to-face; for everything else we use tools."
Feel free to check out his Power Tool Painting blog post over here : http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/power-tool-painting.html
"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try" ~unknown
Of course safety is a concern with any person using tools (child or adult). This is why I kept my group size small (4 to 5 kids), used constant supervision, and everyone who participated used safety goggles and had the option to wear work gloves if they wished.
Two year old M showing me the piece he worked on getting out of the computer.
You can see where the group broke off into smaller teams as the computer was now in several pieces. The children formed these teams effortlessly. I, as the teacher, did not offer any suggestion to do so. I merely sat back as an observer, photographer, and note taker.
Only rarely did I need to interject at all. Sometimes when things were getting really exciting, I would remind them that this project is called "Take apart, not break apart." and they knew exactly what I meant by that. Two of the older boys (5 year olds) explained that when tiny screws are hiding somewhere you have to unscrew them first and it will come apart much easier.
When the children felt that they took the computer apart as much as they could, they asked to reuse the parts from this "old-fashioned computer" (they lovingly referred to it as) to create a new invention. The children and I share a passion for recreating new things out of old, cast off materials.
Stay tuned for part two!
