The Shed Project

Capable learners know that their voices are heard, and that their ideas and choices can influence their learning projects and the learning environment. With this in mind, we went outside to inspect the playground.

  • Tracey “This is the shed. Inside the shed there are toys. We play and then we tidy up.”
  • Mason “We can get some things from it. We can play with the sand.”
  • Patrick “We can clean the shed and put the materials into the box. In the box there is a basket and sometimes we put the materials in the box.”
  • Allen “In the house, we can put the toys that are used for outdoor play. Inside, the toys are broken. Some toys are not really hard so we can’t break them. We need to use it carefully to get the sand.” (in Mandarin)
  • Eunice “Inside the shed there are things for cooking like mud and sand and spoons and bowls. Sand and water make the mud.”
  • Doho “The shed looks like a house.”
  • Kenan “The shed is not clean because some things have mud on it.”

A group of problem solvers went to the shed to inspect it.

Eunice “There are boxes inside.”

Sean “This is a box.”

 There were many boxes in the shed. What was in there?

We inspected the boxes to find out. 

Tracey “We can use the empty boxes to make things like K2B.” 

There were new pinboards in some of the boxes. We don’t know how to make them so we wondered who we could ask. We decided where we would like the pinboards. These boards will help us organise the tools and materials in the shed. 

Sean “Put the pinboard here.”

  • Kenan “There is a little car, we need to make it.”

  • Patrick “My dad always teaches me how to fix things. I can make it. Can we ask Ms. Jo?” 

Noah, Patrick, Tracey, Mason and Kenan want to help.

  • Tracey “I think it is a new table.”

We wonder if we can find an expert to help us fix the bikes and the shelf.

Mason and Patrick recalled some maintenance staff coming in to fix a broken sink in the Early Years.

  • Patrick “They wear the uniform. They can fix it. The uniform is blue and red. I saw them go under the sink and fixing.”
  • Mason “I saw it and I tell him it is broken. And he get a tools (a knife). He cut with it.”

When the children were playing outside Ms. Shemo told Mo about the new bikes in the shed.

  • Mo “My dad is a design teacher because he can fix things. I can ask him if he can fix the bikes.”
  • Ms. Shemo “Could your dad help the children fix the bikes in the shed?”
  • Mo “I will ask my dad when he comes to the gym. I will ask if he can help because he knows how to fix the things, that is why he is a design teacher.”

We are excited to see how the EY problem solvers sort out the shed.

 

Pinboards for the Shed

A few weeks ago, a group of children went into the shed to try and organise the space. They noticed that the spades, sand toys and kitchen items were left all over the shed. We decided to try and organise it.

We ordered some pinboards but they needed to be mounted on the walls.  

The children decided where the pinboards should be mounted.

Ms. Hannah sent the information to the maintenance staff department.

 

 

When the maintenance staff arrived, they opened the boxes. The pinboards were blue! We saw some screws in the box.

The maintenance staff thought about the children’s request. There were more pinboards than we had planned to have but the team shared some good suggestions. They began to mount the boards in the shed.

Now we have new pinboards to organize the tools and toys.

Our next step is ‘to discuss and agree on how we might organize the space so that people can use the different items safely’.

We continue to see the children taking ownership over their spaces, observing, discussing and creating functional spaces that meet their needs. The children know they have a voice, and that their ideas and creative thinking can lead to positive changes that support the community. Through these experiences they explore how community spaces can bring a sense of purpose and belonging.

 

Organising the Space

Sean, Kenan, Eunice and Doho have been leading in the ‘Shed Project’. They sat down to decide their next steps.

  • Teacher “The maintenance staff have fixed the pinboards. What do we need to do next?”
  • Kenan “We need to put a thing like a peg on the pinboard.”
  • Sean “What is a hook?”

We looked at some different types of pegboard hooks.

  • Kenan “We need to put the hooks because there are too many things.”
  • Sean “So dirty. Floor is sand. Some people play with sand and throw the sand.”
  • Eunice explained that the sand needs to be “outside in the sandbox.”
  • Doho “Some children put the sand inside. And some children mess it together.”
  • Eunice “Making the things dirty.”
  • Kenan “We need to put the sand back in the boxes. The sand needs to be in the EY Playground.”
  • Doho “Don’t put the sand inside the shed. Play in the sandbox. We need to clean the floor and put the sand back into the box.”
  • Kenan “We need to put the shovels on the pegboards.”
  • Sean “Pans and play cooking things, hang them up on the pegboards.”
  • Doho “NO putting things on the floor!”
  • Kenan “We need to put a sign.”
  • Eunice “Some person is making messy cooking. Don’t make a mess. Go to the sandpit and play.”
  • Doho “Some children making cooking and throw the sand inside.”
  • Sean “Put the trucks on the racks.”

The team drew pictures to share their thinking.

The team presented their ideas to the class and asked for other suggestions to make the space better.

Kenan “We need to put the spades on the pegboard.”

Questions and Answers:

Patrick “Why are the shovels on the pinboard.”

Kenan “Because there are so many shovels. We can use the pinboards.

Patrick “But I did not see the shovels on the floor. Can we put 2 shovels in one hole.”

We might think about the different ways we can organise the shovels.

Sean “Put the trucks on the racks.”

Questions and Answers:

Tracey “Why do not have new toys? Why are there racks on two sides?”

Sean “There are many cars.”

We might need to think about purchasing some new toys.

Eunice “We need to put the sand toys on the rack.”

Questions and Answers:

Tracey “Why is the sand on the floor?”

Eunice “She gets it and puts it on the floor.”

Tracey “Why did she throw the sand out and put it on the floor and the clothes?”

Eunice “She did not throw, she is playing.”

Doho “We need to cleanup inside the shed.”

Doho explained his drawing and answered questions about the shed, the sand on the floor and the shelves on the side wall that will be used to store more toys.

The team will consider the ideas suggested by the class. They would like to propose their suggestions for improvement to Ms. Jacqui to plan their next steps. 

 

Proposals to Ms. Jacqui

Different teams have been working together to make changes to the Early Years Playground. They have been conducting their research to look for ways to organise the play areas to make them safe and functional.

The ‘Shed Project’ team had received samples of the hooks for the pegboards.

They checked the height of the pegboards and tested the hooks to see which ones were most suitable.

Doho, Sean, Kenan and Eunice were ready to share what they leaned. They presented their ideas to the class and Ms. Jacqui.

Kenan liked all the hooks but decided that the circular ones were the least useful as they were too big and the tools fell through them.

Doho, Sean and Eunice also preferred the long straight hooks as you could hang more tools on them.

Ms. Jacqui was very happy to see the curved edges on the hooks as they were safer for the children.

We noticed that the children used a range of mathematical vocabulary; bigger, longer, shorter, to express their ideas about measurement.

The class gave them some feedback on the different ways the toys could be hung up.

Ms. JacquiHow many tools do we have and how many hooks will we need? We don’t want to buy too many, we just want to get what we need.

  • Tracey “We can count them!”

Tracey explained that the pegboards could not be mounted higher as the younger children have to be able to reach the tools.

Next, the team will work together to decide how many hooks we need to order for the shed. Then, they will need to put in a purchase order to buy the hooks. Ms. Jacqui suggested that they ask Mr. Jamie, the Grade 4 teacher to help them attach the hooks as he has a drill.

 

Sorting and Data Collection

A team of children went to the shed to begin sorting the toys. They placed tubs for the sand toys, put the kitchen and cooking items on one rack and all the trucks and diggers on the shelves.

Next, Doho and Sean went to look for Mr. Jamie, to ask him if he could help the team mount the hooks on the pegboards.

Sean and Doho explained the problems they had, and then they went out to the shed with Mr. Jamie. Together, they were able to problem-solve and make a plan to mount the hooks.

A team of K2 mathematicians went to the shed to gather more information to plan the next step of the project. We needed to find out how many hooks, tubs and racks we will need to sort and organise the different toys in the shed.

 

The team began to think about the different ways we can record data. We decided to divide the paper into four to record the number of kitchen items wheelbarrows trucks and sand toys.

Then, the data collectors used pictures, words and numbers to record their information. 

We observed the children:

  • gathering, recording and organizing information
  • listening actively and respectfully to others’ ideas and listening to information
  • using mark-marking to convey meaning
  • taking responsibility with tasks
  • using strategies to problem-solve

 

Installing the Hooks

Over the past few months, we have been planning and organising the Shed.

After a planning meeting with Ms. Jacqui, the project team decided to order hooks for the pinboards in the shed. After their data collection, they placed an order for the hooks.

The hooks for the shed arrived through the post. The team worked to attach them to the pinboards.

Another team went to the shed to count the number of hooks and signs we need. They recorded their information on the iPad.

Then, created labels with images and numbers to let the children know how to sort and store the different items in the shed.

While planning and organising ‘The Shed’, the children took responsibility and ownership of their learning spaces and materials.

They worked in teams, sharing ideas, listening to different perspectives and working together for a purpose. They used their thinking skills to explore possibilities, to reimagine spaces and solve problems in creative ways.

The children used their knowledge of number and data handling when collecting and sorting information. Discussing and presenting ideas, documenting their learning and using what they know about signs and labels to inform others, developed their literacy skills.