Not Just a Box
“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.”
Albert Einstein
I shared something last week on twitter that I really didn’t think was much different from all the usual ideas, links, quotes and pictures I post on a daily basis as @jenquattrucci.
It was a picture of a box with the caption ‘THIS IS NOT A BOX’ and it listed all the things the box could potentially be, with a little imagination. You can find the actual tweet here, and you might want to check out the thread to see the discussion and reminiscing it prompted.
The response was incredible! It was so fun to see all the replies and retweets from so many people around the world! It got me thinking about a book that I loved as a child and have in my classroom library. The title is ‘Cristina Katerina and the Box’ and it was written by Patricia Lee Gauch. I decided I would find a way to work it into my lesson plans soon!
The very next day I was left with an extra thirty minutes to my day and although I do welcome my thirty minutes of prep time each day, I thought of the lack of substitute teacher for a specialized class as an opportunity to give my students a little extra freedom to think, focus, create, and innovate. So we read Cristina Katerina and the Box. And then we needed boxes!
Luckily, we collect have been collecting recyclables in the effort to build up the ‘Maker Space’ consumables in our classroom since the beginning of the year. We have embraced STEM integration by following the design challenge process I discussed briefly here, on the Educate the Heart podcast, and in full detail in my new book, Educate the Heart: Screen-Free Activities for Grades PreK-6 to Inspire Authentic Learning.
It’s a process built on curiosity and natural authentic ( sometimes messy) learning so we have lots of ‘stuff!’
Because of the innovative nature of STEM, things do get used up quickly and we never know exactly what might come in handy for a particular challenge but I’m fortunate to have families who are kind enough to send in cardboard, plastic, and all kinds of odds and ends on a regular basis. Because of this, we did happen to have enough boxes for everyone to choose one of their very own.
I gave the students this challenge. Transform your box into something you can take home that will be useful to you or someone in your family. You will have 5 minutes to create your initial plan, 5 minutes to gather your materials from the STEM cart or your own desk/backpack, 10 minutes to create, and 10 final minutes to reflect, revise, regather materials if necessary, and complete your project. Of course if there was more work to be done, it could easily be completed at home since the purpose of this challenge was to use the item at home anyway.
The creative energy in the room was awesome! We had one student creating a jewelry box for his mom with different compartments for different pieces, one student designing a monster style doll/play house and someone else designing a ship for his stuffed puppy!
One student decided to make his box into a treasure box for all his favorite Lego mini figures, and one girl said her box would be a gratitude box, like the gratitude journals we do in class, but different because she would write the favorite part of her day on a little sticky note and stick the note to the box instead on writing a page in a book.
A few of the girls in my class have orchestra lessons after school and tried to create instruments with their boxes.
All of the students were very thoughtful and reflective in their designs and redesigns. There was lots of great conversation and respectful discussion about their successes and challenges as they focused on turning their boxes into ‘Not Just Boxes!’
The picture above was sent to me by a family the next morning. What started out as one cereal box turned into a Monster Mansion playhouse! This is how it looked when she took it home Monday afternoon and you can also see how happy she was about the whole endeavor!
Here are some more ‘Not a Box’ projects in action…
I loved hearing the students talk about their ‘Not a Box’ projects as the days went on. Everyone was eager to tell each other about how they added to their project and where it was in their house. Many children also shared ideas about how they were going to transform other boxes in their houses and in our Maker Space Center!
This was the morning after our project. One of my students was so excited to show me how his stuffed puppy loved his new boat! He also brought me two flowers and told me, “Only one broke!”
Thursday while I was at a student-led parent teacher conference with the special education team at my school, the student leading the discussion talked about his ‘box’ project. He decided to use his box to recreate the Titantic Ship to play with at home so he could pretend his toys at home were part of the movie. He said that it was his favorite thing he’s ever done in school. We talked about visiting the library to do further research on the Titanic and that time period and his mother was so happy to hear him so excited about something he did in school!
So, it wasn’t just a box.
And this blog post really isn’t about a tweet.
It’s about giving each child the opportunity to focus, think, create, and learn at his or her own pace and letting them decide how and what they want to create.
It’s about letting a child make a plan and follow through because they want to. It’s about giving them the confidence to think for themselves and letting them discover on their own what they need do to make something happen.
It’s about real authentic learning. It’s about letting a child be a child. A wonderful, unique, creative, thoughtful child. It’s about educating the hearts of children by providing them with experiences they truly need.
Thank you so much for your time and attention and taking a peek into our classroom. That one little extra half hour last Monday made a big difference in our overall week and helped us grow as a classroom community of learners.
If you would like to connect further, please feel free to leave a comment or message here on this post, or on any of my social media channels. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
Yours truly,
Jennifer
