At home, puzzle pieces usually go missing. Now, imagine a school setting where numerous people have access to them and move them from place to place every day. Occasionally, the children help the educators check all the puzzles in the centre to ensure all the pieces are in the box. It is common for them to have one or more pieces missing. Then, what do we do with what is left? Most people would throw it in the garbage since the puzzle is lost and will never be completed again.
It is not unusual to see children wanting to throw things in the garbage because that is what they see adults doing: if something is broken, missing or showing any sign of imperfection, just throw it out. Relating to how the world is today and the amount of litter we produce, campaigns are done all over the place, but do we do anything to change our environment? Sometimes, it can feel that one person cannot change anything, whereas if everybody thinks that, it will certainly not happen.
Therefore, for this Valentine's Day, we decided to do a board using resources that were going to the garbage. So, the hearts were made with used paper and puzzle pieces. First, the children painted the pieces white to be able to paint with other colours later. After the puzzle was all dry, they glued it in the heart and waited for it to dry once more. Then, the children could paint just the pieces or everything using red, pink and orange dyes.
It does not seem much; however, this activity can plant a seed in the children's heads regarding reusing and recycling things, giving children a new perspective and opportunities to explore their creativity, while they conitnue to build on their hand eye coordination as they create using the materials provided. After this activity, it made me wonder what other great things they can make using materials that would go to the garbage? And now, will children be able to look at those materials and think how they can reuse them or will they just keep throwing it in the garbage?
