Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7
Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 & 13 | Day 14 | Day 15
Welcome to Day 16 (a bit late! Sorry!) of the 30 Days to Transform Your Play series! Today we’re discussing something I love – real tools for children! I have discussed the benefits of using real tools for children before.
Real tools have many uses – for pretend play, for exploration, for learning and for creating. I love Kate’s division of the examples (Play | Kitchen | Garden | Art | Creation).
Real tools provide interest, give children a sense of pride, and help them grow self-awareness and self-control. It is empowering for children to be given this level of responsibility. Giving them real tools, rather than pretend toys, honours the child’s abilities and intelligence and sends the message that they are capable and competent learners and experimenters. – Learn & Play with Real Tools for Kids
Some reading you may enjoy:
DIY Microscope Slide Kit | How we Montessori
Tinkering School Blog & TED Talk
Teaching Photography to Children
Task:
- Consider which tools would be beneficial to nurture your child’s interests
(e.g. a telescope for an interest in space, a camera to document a project, binoculars to observe animals, etc) - Create an exploration basket of related items (tools, books, toys, etc) relating to your child’s interest – particularly if they don’t have experience with the tools involved,
- Encourage exploration of real tools and work alongside them to make meaning with them.
Feel free to share your photos (no matter what day!) on Instagram with the hashtag #30daystyp and/or on my Facebook page.
Here is the rest of the 30 Days to Transform Your Play series!
Love the info graphic and the links! I need to find a better-quality camera appropriate for a 2year old — probably a sports-one that can handle being dropped. I bought a “kid’s one” and it had about 3 minutes of video — not good for a toddler videographer, lol.
Buy used. Craigslist, pawn shop, ebay. You can get a decent point-and-shoot with video for $10. That way if it gets broken (probably won’t, esp. if your child is used to real dishes, tools etc.) then it’s not a big deal.