Children at Guardian Marsfield Make Their Own Geoboards

eastwood-geoboards

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After noticing the toddlers take a particular liking to the construction corner, Guardian Marsfield’s Lead Educator decided to embrace their interests and bring a 21st century experience, building geoboards, into the classroom.

“It began with the toddlers showing an interest in the construction corner. They were really engaged with the building materials, particularly the hammer we have there,” says Parveen, Lead Educator.

“One of the children came up to me and shared a story about how he and his father use a real hammer at home. He was so excited about making that connection, so I knew that I had to do something to build on that.”

child building geoboards at Eastwood

Parveen was quick to act, and in a matter of days brought in timber cut offs, nails and a hammer. She decided to build geoboards with the children, working with them one at a time to hammer the nails into the wood.

“I sat beside the children, and they each got a turn at hammering the nails to create their own geoboard,” shares Parveen.

“They were all really patient and had the opportunity to watch their peers then copy their techniques on their own board.”

Building the geoboards was a great learning opportunity for the toddlers, which included working on their fine motor skills, risk taking through play and doing something from their home lives in care.

geoboards built by children at eastwood

The children were also able to create some meaningful resources for their future learning, resources that are enjoyed by children throughout the centre.

“Some of the children have older siblings, and at the end of the day you’ll find them sitting together and making patterns on the geoboards with rubber bands,” says Parveen.

“The parents have told us how much their children love them, and a few of them are going to build their own geoboards at home now.”

Responding to the toddlers’ sense of ownership with the boards, Parveen has introduced additional opportunities for the children to take control of their learning.

child hammering nails to build geoboards

“I’ve recently started supervising the children while they cut up their own afternoon tea. Before the kitchen was doing it for them. Since they’ve given the responsibility and taking ownership of their meals, the children have been eating a lot more fruit and get excited when afternoon tea comes around.”

Parveen and the team have plans to expand the construction corner, and have put a call out to parents to donate any old tools they have.

“I believe that it’s very important to offer real experiences to children. We need to show them the reality of the world so that they know what things are and what to expect when they transition into school and beyond,” shares Parveen.

“I want them to learn to be independent and capable humans, and there’s so many ways we can incorporate that in our daily programs.”

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