Did you know that almost 80% of a person’s brain potential
is developed by the age of 4?
This was the main message for the ‘Waste to Toys’ workshop
which, as the names suggests, was all about making resources from waste or junk
materials.
Singakwenza: a South
African company, travelled up to Zambia to spend the
day with us and show us how easy it is to
make school resources that are free, educational and sustainable.
As well as the three Beyond Ourselves
schools, ten other local community schools were invited to join us. It was a
very empowering morning and we all ended the day with our heads full of new
ideas and feeling motivated to get creative.
Every person was given a pair of scissors
and a black marker pen and told that these would be the only ‘tools’ we needed.
The number washing line in this picture has been made
from packaged cardboard and the pictures taken from free supermarket leaflets.
So clever, simple and free!
Each activity was designed with specific
Early Childhood Development goals in mind. So we progressed from making rocket
balls – that tested our gross motor skills to writing our initials on the top
of fruit packaging with used matchsticks -that helped with our fine motor
skills.
Poking holes with a matchstick developed the muscles
young
children need for holding a pencil.
With each activity and new creation the
emphasis was on developing the skills that children would need for reading,
writing and maths later on.
We couldn’t make everything in one morning and so
spent some time looking at resources already prepared such as this ‘shoe tying
activity’
Overall the day was a huge success. Singkwenza shared with our teachers the skills
and ideas needed to make their own toys and school resources. The teachers went back to their schools with
easily-replicated sustainable resources and ideas for making many more.
However the best part was the knowledge and
understanding of the importance of play for a child’s early development. Play
provides rich learning opportunities and leads to children’s success and
self-esteem.
During our training we did little writing
but learnt a great deal through the making, discussing, playing and problem
solving with our peers.
Check out the video on the Singkwenza website
to see their training in action.
