The yellow bin is the most versatile used bin in our school age group 2 program. The curiosity and interest that the children continue to show over the yellow bin are amazing. As educators, maybe we need to ask the question, what is in the yellow bin that intrigues the children that much? Well, it is the bin that can be used for hours on ending, it got us through the long cold winter months, rainy days when we spent all our time indoors and any other occasions that the children needed to spend time together, created something and have great conversations with each other. Whenever the children heard that the hot glue guns were plugged in and the yellow bin was opened with the addition of tape and the collage bin, every child will rush to find a spot at the craft table.
This gave an opportunity for endless creations and conversations amongst each other. The yellow bin contains a variety of open-ended materials for the children to choose. Lucy chose two paper cups; two popsicle sticks and two feather and started to design her masterpiece. While she was working Ella asked, “What are you making?” Lucy answered, “I am making a trophy.” Ella then replied, “That doesn’t look like a trophy it has two feathers on the top.” Lucy then explained, “Well if you look carefully, you can see that I shaped the feathers to look like hearts that are on the top of the trophy.” Then Austin added, “Oh yeah that is a good idea and I can see the hearts.” As Emmett was working, he looked very confused then Will T. asked, “What is the matter do you need some help?” Emmett answered, “Well, I want to attach this straw to this cup but it won’t stay even with the hot glue, it just kept falling off.” Will T. suggested, “Oh you can just use the scissors to poke a hole in the cup and then put the straw through the hole and then put some hot glue so that it doesn’t fall out.” With Will T. help Emmett was able to successfully put the straw into the cup. Amanda covered the opening of her cup with tape and then glued some pom poms on the top and said, “I am making an ice cream cone.” Then Wyatt commented, “That looks really cool.” Then Amanda added, “Well I will make some more and then I can open an ice cream store.” So, she took a yogurt container and replicated the same idea. Ella said, “I am making a theatre and will use this feather as a broom to clean my theatre.”
This experience provided an opportunity for the children to develop their creativity, engage their critical thinking skills and foster their imagination. They were also able to work independently as well as helping each other at the same time. The built their communication skills by sharing their ideas, making comments and asking question about other friends creations.
