Junkology began as a corner, with boxes, filled with "junk" such as straws, toothpicks, scraps of fabric, paper, glitter, chenille sticks, plastecine, felts, boxes, egg cartons, tape, glue, string, yarn, and any other scraps of materials I could find. I thought I would need them for projects, so I collected these materials.
Students would gravitate toward the boxes, and start building things. There were no rules. And that was the key....
Kids get to muck around. They come up with all sorts of things at Junkology: a new home for their doll, a crazy pair of glasses, a futuristic house, a new invention, a hat, a rocket launcher....and the list goes on.
It reminds me of a lecture I went to last year by Gordon Neufeld on emergent play. Play is for play itself; no outcomes.
I find it refreshing and liberating for the kids. I love seeing what they create, and I love the conversation that comes out of their inventions. They talk, they problem solve, they discuss ideas, they relax, and they enjoy.
In a world where we are always looking for outcomes, assessment, progression, and some form of measurement to tell us where are students and children are, Junkology offers a respite for our stressed out and over programmed children.
So, try Junkology with your students or your children. You can visit the dollar store and get a whole bunch of stuff; raid your recycling bin, and get started.
1 comment:
So inspired by this post! Isn't it great how kids can "creatively" use all of this material? The "best present was the box it came in" phenomenon!
Like your new image on your blog too - gorgeous photo
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