One of the seven year olds hung around the big kids' class while he was waiting to be picked up. He was one googly eye in his hand.
"What is it for?" we asked.
He answered, "I don't know yet, but I'm going to do something with it."
That was not the first time he has "done something" with stuff he finds. Once, he made a little fishing pole out of a twig and a piece of string that he got from the frays of his clothing. He is constantly picking up odd things (rubber bands, forgotten pieces of erasers, paper clips...) and putting them in his pockets; sometimes he does something with them right away, sometimes he puts it away for later use.
Inspired, I rummaged through the stuff shelf and found old CDs, distributed them, and tasked them to "do something with it."
Photo from Phil B. at Instructables
When the seven year old heard the assignment, he smiled proudly and said, "We did that. Me and [my brother] used old CDs to invent a game. We call it Photon Tag. It's Habulan (tag) but with light."
Teacher Tom writes about re-using old stuff and turning them into something else, particularly for his pre-schoolers. We practice this as well at the Center For Blended Learning. The teachers often bring their old stuff from home, hesitating to throw anything away as there might be some use for it in a class.
The teachers' friends have also gotten into the habit of giving the teachers their old stuff because we might be able to use them - our favorite question: "Could you use these?" to which "yes" is always the answer. If the items have been stored too long, then we make a lesson plan that uses them specifically.
This practice has made for less waste, as well as less expenditure for the parents. And all it takes, is the unlearning of the bias against second-hand or used items.
