It'g Go Time!

Before we first went into the Primary I felt I had a good grounding of what to expect from having younger siblings of a similar age, who are both crazy, fun, loud and most important creative. The two weeks I spent shadowing with my teacher Ms Banks in the classes of P4B at Oxgangs Primary was a real insight to how I should be running my workshops, she had a strong firm personality that connected well with the children but also kept them in check. It was a new exciting experience that allowed me to really get to know the children and create a fun friendly bond with them all.

As all classes were of different abilities and ages we decided that it was best to draw up weekly class plans suited to our individual classes, this allowed me to maximise the children’s full potential in the short time that we had. Before I entered the class I was told that my class was ‘boy heavy’ meaning they could be quite rowdy and loud. I wanted to make sure that I was going to be able to grab everyone's attention and create a workshop suited to all of my children.

Workshop 1:

Our first workshop was to focus on designing for others, we wanted to express how impor

tant ‘empathy’ is when designing. I found using the expression ‘put yourself in someone else’s shoes’ was a great way to get the children motivated to design for someone else. Suggesting to them that they should think of a family member or friend that possibly has a problem is a helpful way to get their brains going.

Knowing that it can be difficult for children to come up with initial ideas we decided it would be best if we each came up with a character profile and a simple invention to kick start the children’s brains, this also allowed the children who really struggled to have a starting point (or use are characters we provided) without them getting too upset when they couldn't understand. I suggested that we each take set tables to ensure we are giving the children our full support when needed, this worked well as many children needed a little boost at the start.

Workshop 2:

This week we introduced our briefing for the project, letting the children know what the theme for the Wee Inventors project would be. We wanted to create a theme that would suit all classes and children of different abilities, while still keeping it fun and exciting. At the end of all our workshops we plan to hold an exhibit to show off all the design work produced, this will allow the children who don’t get picked by the makers to still take part and show off everyones amazing inventions through sketches and model making.

I picked Australia for my class as I have always wanted to go there and felt eager to learn about the continent. During my time shadowing I had noticed that the children really enjoyed ‘news round’, using this as my starting point I asked the children what they already knew about Australia. It was amazing to see how much they already knew about the continent and the excitement on their faces as they all talked about their answers. I made sub categories within my chosen theme to help push ideas and imagination for those who were struggling, these are what I chose The Outback, Bush Fires, Barrier Reef and Native Animals.

I was worried that they would struggle with the task of inventing for one of these categories but after I reminded them how important it was to design for others they were all go and started sketching. I was really impressed by the outcome of my ‘Wee Inventors’, their imagination was limitless. It was amazing to see everyone buzzing around, talking through their ideas with excitement and jumping at the chance to present to the class.

Workshop 3:

As this was our third week doing workshops at Oxgangs Primary we really wanted to get stuck in to modelling and prototyping. I gave a quick recap of the continent in case anyone was off or needed to be reminded. The children had asked me previously if we used 3D printers and big workshops at our university (I was very surprised about this as I didnt think that children so young would know what 3D modeling is), so they were super excited to learn more. I used images and videos to explain various types of prototyping but mainly focussed on how important cardboard modelling is and how major companies and designers use cardboard modelling everyday.

Giving them the brief for this week's task, I explained how important it is to work as a team when making their Australian architecture out of cardboard. I handed out the cardboard and templates (for difficult parts) for each building that I'd cut previously to help kick start the making.

The children found it difficult to start with as they had never used cardboard to model make before, I asked the members of the team to split themselves between the tables so that they all had help when needed.

I wanted to focus not only on the making of the models but the features and process in the making, showing them techniques that we use ourselves to help make modelling a little easier but also look amazing when finished. Teaching them these modelling techniques I hope that they will be able to later use for any modelling task throughout school. Although this task was all about teamwork and physical modelling I still wanted to get the children thinking creatively so we added a little quirk, once finished their buildings they were asked to add a special feature to make it fun and exciting to look at. This went amazing! With my class adding swimming pools, slides, people and animals all around the funky structures really bringing them to life.

Workshop 4:

Sadly this was our final week running workshops at Oxgangs Primary, not wanting to waste any time we got stuck straight into today's task. Emphasising that I wanted them to produce as high a standard as they could with their drawings and clay modelling I showed them top tips on how to create the perfect drawing through the use of a story board.

I decided it was best to hand back out their drawings so that they could complete it to their best ability before handing out the clay. I probably should have kept the clay quiet till it was getting handed out as they were all jumping to finish and start making. Once handed out some children didn’t know what to do with the clay as they had never used it before, I explained it was just like ‘Play Doh’ that once it was warmed up it's easier to move around.

They soon picked it up and started working away to create their final clay models that will later be displayed in the exhibit. It alway amazes me how quickly the children pick everything up and never stay scared for long when pitching their ideas to the class. I loved to see that in this final week they are now using all the techniques we have taught them throughout the workshops to produce amazing and funky models! It was sad to say goodbye to them as I feel I have made a strong connection with them all, we promised that this is not the last they would see of us and that we will pop in with updates through the making of their inventions.