Junk Model Maker

What you need

• clean, dry cardboard boxes and cardboard tubes
• rinsed plastic tubs
• masking tape, with strips torn off ready

How to do it

1. Tip the boxes, tubes and tubs onto a rug and stick a row of tape strips along the edge of a tray.
2. Ask "What shall we make?" and let them choose the first piece.
3. Hold pieces together while they press the tape on, and let them decide what goes where.
4. When they stop, say "Tell me about it" and listen.

Why it matters

Choosing the pieces, sticking them together and then telling you what it is makes a pile of boxes into their own idea, from start to finish.

What they're learning

Making a model

Joining pieces into the thing they have in mind.

Telling about it

Giving their model a name and a story in their own words.

Using tape

Pressing a strip down so the pieces hold.

What to look for

Notice them telling you what it is, even if it has turned into something new since they started.

A tip

Only clean card and rinsed plastic tubs: nothing glass or with a sharp edge, no bags, and no lids small enough to fit through a toilet roll tube. If a piece needs cutting, cut it yourself, away from their hands.

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