Inventing bucket

I wish I had a picture to share but you will have to just visualize instead. Yesterday I introduced a new toy bucket to our kiddies. It had a big word on the outside that said "Inventing". What ever could it be? Well let me tell you! So my dad is a ham radio operator and happens to also have a whole bunch of "junk" lying around. He found some goodies for me that he didn't need anymore. So this bucket was filled with wires, switches, displays, screws, handles, nuts, bolts, I added rope, 3D glasses from the movie theatre, tinfoil, and my set of real mastercraft screwdrivers. I'm sure there was lots of other stuff in that bucket too. 

I introduced it to the children starting with that big word on the side. What does it mean? Once we got past the word then we talked about what we might do with it. Is it a craft bucket? No. So can we build things and bring them home? No. But can we save things and take pictures to continue later. OF COURSE! Then I held up a few items and we talked about them and then the bucket waited for us for play time. 

Now, in our classroom we don't have a ton of toys. Our shelves are not bare but toys are pricey, those costs would come out of our personal money and we just can't afford that. So most of our toys dont engage the children as well as more open ended toys would. But this bin was revolutionary. They played beautifully. They played creatively and the played cooperatively. They also played quietly. Quiet play is a sign of engaged play. Engaged play is an indication of learning. That sounds really pretty. Someone should share that and quote me. I've never been quoted before. Anywho, I'm going to write another post about today's play where you will hear about what they did.

Feb. 21 update: I took pictures!!!!

Although they look very messy, this is where the inventing happens.