Saturday, September 10, 2011

Holiday Activities for Children - Art and Building

As an Art teacher I get to test run some great new products to see how they would translate into the classroom. This is one of the many fun things about my job.......




Recently I was handed a box of Makedo, a set of connectors that enable you to build quickly with recyclable materials like cardboard boxes. If you are a regualr at Uber Savvy you will  know that recycling is a big part of what I do with my students, so this product looked like it had potential....





A basic kit  ($30 AUS) contains:
  • 5 groovy plastic construction tools with knife and hole punching device.
  • Connectors (a pin and clip)
  • Hinges - that can be fixed or pivot.

The kit says it is for ages 4+, so I took the Makedo kit home to test it out with my guinea pigs young  children, who are 4 and 6. We collected boxes of all shapes and sizes and I showed them how the different pieces worked.






My children picked it all up straight away and ran with it (metaphorically and literally).
We used masking tape, stickers, a circle hole punch and some left over contact paper together with the Makedo system to build our robots.






The Verdict:
This connector system is easy to use and perfect for children at home. I can see Mums and Dads creating side by side with their kids- it is a fabulous holiday idea!


I love the way the circular clips become part of the design (as with the eyes on the robots). It is great how you can incorporate movement (the robots' legs and the arms move) - you can't do this with tape! 


The box doesn't take up much room in a cupboard and all the clips and hinges can be used over and over and over again. 


In a classroom situation it would work well with all age groups for a whole range of projects. It enables fast building which is always welcome. I am definitely planning some sculptural work with this soon- the students will love it.


The Makedo site has a video demo and a interesting gallery to gather ideas- click here. You can also upload your own creations which is what I am about to do after I finish this. By the way I haven't been paid to review this product, I just think it is a really interesting one that allows creativity to grow.


It has my eco-art thumbs up!



Linking Elle and Lou with:

Photobucket

5 comments:

  1. Those are so neat! I think when my kids are just a bit older I'm going to have to get some. The possibilities are endless - I love those robots!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my gosh, these are so cute! What a great idea and very eco-friendly! Thanks for linking up!

    Jamie
    day-and-age-design.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fun - And I like how with simple raw materials, you end up with such a good toy - My son will love this

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are so cool, thanks for sharing on Monday Madness!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fun! You are lucky to have been able to test those. I like both those robots made with it.

    Thanks for sharing at Monday Madness. Hope to see you back again tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete

I enjoy hearing from you.
Thank you for your taking the time.