With all the enthusiasm around cars and trucks in mind, we recently brought in large packing boxes to see if they would be incorporated into the play. For the animal lovers in our group, they immediately became tiger and bear cub caves and cages for unruly puppies. But for the larger group, it seemed the box was perfectly designed for a bakery delivery truck. Children spent days loading “packages” into the box for future delivery to the bakery.
But somehow something didn’t seem quite right. Where was the delivery driver to sit? How could we keep the boxes from falling out of the truck. Emptying out the box, we decided to take a step back and brainstorm to design just the truck we were looking for.
We first consulted the internet and the children quickly found a truck that they all agreed was perfect
With picture in hand, we made a few alterations and children were excited to try it out. With some difficulty they hopped into the delivery truck, met with a certain degree of frustration. Recognizing some design flaws, the children took the initiative to sketch their way through some problem solving.
I NEED TO FIND SOME STABLE STEPS TO CLIMB IN. LET ME WRITE THAT DOWN. I’M MAKING WHAT OUR TRUCK SHOULD LOOK LIKE WITH THE STEPS. SOFIA
MAYBE YOU CAN DRAW A PICTURE OF A DELIVERY TRUCK AND PUT IT ON IT. I WILL DRAW IT. GUYS, I’M DOING THE OTHER PART OF THE DELIVERY TRUCK NOW. I’M DOING THE HEATER. CASE
I’M DOING THE BACK WHERE THE PACKAGES GO. CHARLOTTE
Moving between sketches and our prototype, the children came up with three problems we needed to solve.
1. We need stable steps.
2. How do we keep the boxes from falling out of the back?
3. How can we keep the roof from falling over?
The next day we shared our problems with the larger group and it wasn’t long before lots of ideas began to flow.
I GOT AN IDEA – WE CAN LEAN IT UP AGAINST HERE. WE HAVE TO FIX THE ROOF WITH SOME TAPE. I NEED TAPE FOR THE SEATBELT. IT’S STILL WIBBLY WOBBLE SO WE NEED MORE TAPE. WE STILL HAVE A PROBLEM. LET ME SEE MY INSTRUCTIONS. JONAH YOU HAVE TO DRAW INSTRUCTIONS. I NEED A LITTLE BIT OF HELP. HOW ‘BOUT TWO STEPS OR THREE? MAYBE THE STEPS TO THE DELIVERY TRUCK GO HERE, ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR. IT’S TOO HARD FOR ME. LET’S FIGURE SOMETHING ELSE OUT. I’LL HELP. I MADE A BOX INTO THE STEP. WE CAN’T TAPE IT CLOSED BECAUSE HOW WILL YOU GET THE BOXES OUT? JUST UNDO THE STRAP AND CLOSE IT WHEN YOU’RE DONE. WITH TAPE. WE NEED A CLIP. THAT ROPE DOES WORK! WE SOLVED OUR PROBLEM!
Through much discussion and trial and error there was great triumph as we successfully solved all of our problems. The only thing left to do was to take our delivery truck out for a test run. All we needed was the address of our destination.
UM CASE, DO YOU KNOW THE DELIVERY NUMBER TO THE BAKERY? THE NUMBER, YOU KNOW LIKE ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR? LIKE THAT. SOFIA
SIX. CASE
But alas our day was nearly over. Children began loading packages into the truck in preparation for the next day’s deliveries.