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BIG BUILDING SPACE “ Big constructiveness”. Public pre-school of Scandiano (Reggio Emilia, Italy). “It’s a big city, it’s Paris with streets to walk by, towers and bridges” (4 and 5 year-old children). Goals of the practice. To enhance play and play attitude.
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BIG BUILDING SPACE“Big constructiveness” Public pre-school of Scandiano (Reggio Emilia, Italy)
“It’s a big city, it’s Paris with streets to walk by, towers and bridges” (4 and 5 year-old children)
Goals of the practice • To enhance play and play attitude. • To create a space where children of different age (4 and 5 year-old) can build together using recycled materials.
Building SPACE IN the CLASSROOM 3/4 year-old 5/6 year- old 4/5 year-old
Big building SPACE Christmas 2011
The space • It is used by small groups of 4 and 5 year-old children • It measures 6 metres by 7 (about) • It is outside the classrooms, in the school common corridor • There are only informal materials (natural and non-natural), which are divided into different typologies
Methodology • Every morning 3 or 4 children of the 4/5 year-old and 5/6 year-old classrooms decide whether to go in the big construction space • Children are free to decide and choose what to build • The teacher has a very important supportive and stimulating role • Children often analyze and discuss with the teacher the construction that has been realized • The process of building begins on Monday and lasts until Friday, when the construction that has been realized is disassembled and children tidy up, dividing materials by typology. • Documentation of the activities on classroom diaries or wall charts
“It’s a big city, it’s Paris with streets to walk by, towers and bridges”. (Francesco, Alessandro 4 year-old and Jasmine, Elisa, Cristian, Samuel, Faisena 5 year-old)
NOVELTY • “Building on a large scale” • Children are focused on giving a different identity to already known objects • Use objects in an imaginative way, through the exploration
Sara (4 year-old) There are cameras (two blue objects) because here there’s a bank!!! With money and nobody can take them… exept when it opens. Here (white stripe) you must insert the keys to enter: you must use the white ones if want to go in the white cash dispenser which gives you white money and you must use the black keys if you want to go in the black cash dispenser, which gives you black money! Under there are bottles, half of them contain money and half of them contain water, water is useful if you are thirsty and money… are money! While building, Sara says to herself: “they are bottles full of caps, they are white, also water is white, so they are bottles full of water!”.
INVENTIVENESS • Inventing structural formulas, experience relationships between what is known and not known yet • Accepting and sharing ideas and solutions coming from others • Let imagination and creativeness act to build objects that “work” • Deepening knowledge through the play
Aldo: Cinzia, I’d like to build a car, but I’m not able to Cinzia: let’s ask to Matteo, he always built cars last year… Matteo: (after asking for help to him) I come immediately! I’m very good at building cars Aldo: what do you need? Matteo: Wheels! Firstly I want to use a tube which goes very fast (they find a black tube and Matteo put it near the wheels) Aldo: that is a silencer, right? It goes here … then you need a crash helmet …we go there to take it (in the disguise space). Set the seats upright! (they put them side by side).. But there’s not enough space Matteo: yes, there is enough space! (he puts one behind the other) Aldo: let’s fasten our seat belt, OK ? Matteo: OK! Let’s go BRR...Aldo I need a seat belt! (he takes another tube) Matteo: AH ! (he finds another thing and they start playing again)…I go faster… meeeeeeeeeee Aldo: no, I go faster… because I always watch races on TV! And motorcycles go even faster!!!!
Teacher: why don’t you build a motorcycle? Aldo: but we can’t! We need a handlebar! Matteo: here it is!!!!! Aldo: (after some attempts, he builds a motorcycle…) Cinzia, can you write DUCATI on it? And then you need number… 37! Matteo: you write Renault on my one … ok? Aldo, put your crash helmet on! Aldo: (he gets on the motorcycle) BRRRRR ……I won!!!! Be careful of cars Amani! Matteo: shall we train? Aldo: No, we need trials! Matteo: Aldo, we make races with a winner? Aldo: no, here you don’t win: these are trials and during trials nobody wins.. You put your helmet on? If you don’t put it on and you fall, you’ll hurt yourself! Did you see Valentino falling??? He fell and he went to the hospital Ilyas: can I play? Aldo: you must build your car Ilyas: but I haven’t a crash helmet! Aldo: but Matteo will take one for you Matteo gives his crash helmet to Ilyas and put on a mask … the play begins again with three children
SELF-ESTEEM • Facing problems of balance, height, length and volume Omar (4 year-old): “Erman, can you help me putting this on? I want to build a bridge. We must put it here and there… with the caps on!! ”
RISK • It can be a dangerous activity because often … everything falls down!
