Sometimes educators really are lacking in the tools they need to effectively teach a concept or unit. At other times all we need to do is check the garden, the recycling bin, or the pantry cupboard! There are so many examples of how we use the things around us, instead of buying expensive products.
We don’t need fancy play equipment when we can balance on stumps and move them around to make a train. We can look under rocks for bugs and we can examine nature that we find outside at home, like the chestnuts that I brought in with their spiky shells and oily insides that our students had never seen before.
The leftover cups from a summer barbeque have been a huge hit as they are stacked in different ways, used as a challenge to see who can build the tallest structure, and turned into a massive wall!
We searched outside for our one favourite leaf each. We turned our leaves into leaf people. We wrote about our leaf people and turned the whole project into a class book that we can take turns having at home to share with our families.
Nothing beats a free farm pumpkin as a source of art and science inquiries! We had a close look at our pumpkin from the outside to the inside using our powers of sight, smell, and touch.
Big and small boxes have provided our students with the inspiration for forts, boats, pet beds, ice cream shops, and houses for a month now. They get played with so much that we have had to reinforce some with duct tape!
We can’t forget also mentioning the advantages of making our own playdoh. Our students become familiar with units of dry and liquid measurement and they learn how to take turns when we mix up our own playdoh every few weeks. It would cost us so much to buy individual little containers.
Educators have to be creative when it comes to sourcing out supplies, but in the long run, it is better for students to have access to this wide variety of materials. An added bonus is that they see the benefit for our environment in reducing consumption and re-using everyday things.
kgkinders 