Pre-schoolers Learn Value of Recycling
Preschool students in a North Point Educational Service Center classroom are learning the value of recycling and having fun doing it. The classroom, located at the Kaleidoscope Center, is building a grocery store out of boxes!
Laurie Martin, Director of North Point’s Early Childhood programs, shared, “Our students are capable of learning many important concepts. This activity furthers their understanding of how we can reuse items and preserve our resources. The knowledge and information they learned through this activity will carry through life.” To the kids’ classroom teacher, Bethany Binette, this project is “a next step”. Ms. Binette stated, “Last year my preschoolers built an igloo out of milk and juice containers. It was part of a lesson in which we learned about the Artic environment. This summer I thought about continuing the experience, but I wanted to create a different challenge – building a grocery store out of our recycled grocery boxes. It was a challenge! I researched my plan but could not find sample lessons or educational literature about similar projects, so we created our own template. We are very pleased with what the students learned and how it all came together.”
The effort “kicked-off” in October when Ms. Binette shared the project with her students and asked parents to send in empty cereal and food boxes. The boxes became “bricks” that the class used to construct their building. Within thirty days the class had amassed over one-hundred (100) boxes.
The class taped and glued the boxes, creating a framework around which the structure was built. Ms. Binette continued, “Everyone – including the parents – were excited as our store began to take shape. Each box was examined according to its height, width and strength and then manipulated into position. As they did so, the students learned about geometry, architecture and teamwork.”
The initial plan called for a small structure in which the kids could play and read once it was completed. That plan changed as boxes kept coming in. Classroom assistant, Pam Bauer, shared, “We were overwhelmed with the support we received from parents. As the boxes kept coming in, we kept building our store. Today, it is tall enough that adults can stand inside of it. Our children were very proud of the structure they built!”
The store will become a fixture in the classroom for the remainder of the year and will be utilized to help teach skills and concepts relating to Science, Social Studies, Mathematics and Language Arts.
Ms. Binette and Ms. Bauer are already contemplating next year’s project.
