Bluebird houses and 16 bit kits.

Yesterday in wood shop, students and I finished 10 bluebird houses as part of their outdoor studies class. Six of the bird houses are being sold to supporters of the school, and one or two will be installed on campus for students to tend and observe. Left-overs will be sold at a Clear Spring School event near the end of the school year.

Also yesterday, my Rainbow Group (kindergarten) tested our 16 bit building kits. The sixteen bit building kit is one that our small business studies class will be taking by appointment to demonstrate to big business giant Walmart next week.

While many woodworking kits designed by adults lack the opportunity for child creativity to emerge, the sixteen bit kits each contain 16 blocks of wood, a glue stick and sanding strip that allow the kids to design and make whatever they want. In a test with 7 kindergarten aged students, each came up with their own unique project. 

The students in the small business class have been designing the packaging for four project kits. One contains parts for making tops. One contains parts for making flip cars. One contains the parts for building a Soma cube puzzle, and the last is the 16 bit kit. The students are also working on their sales pitches that will be offered to a Walmart product specialist. The point is to get pointers on product sales and design.

Make, fix and create...