Counting Autumn Leaves – Creativity, Creative Thinking and Maths

A mathematical think dive into a pile of colourful autumn leaves. What if there was a leaf counting machine? A leaf-powered machine that could count the leaves in a rotting piles of autumn leaves. Why would you like to count the number of leaves in a pile? Who would think of such an idea? Maths …

The Twelve Days of Endangered Animals Christmas Challenge – Day 4

There is an Australian version of the Twelve Days of Christmas and this version is used as inspiration for today's challenge. On the 4th day of Christmas My true love sent to me 4 koalas cuddling, 3 kookaburras laughing 2 pink galahs And an emu up a gum tree. Koalas are regarded as a vulnerable …

Kindness & Christmas – Spread Christmas Spirit Wherever You Go

  Everyone can make a difference. Everyone can be kind. And everyone can have creative ideas about acts of kindness during the Festive Season! There are many wonderful and creative lists where you can select acts of kindness that your students or child can carry out during December. If you are looking for ways to …

Jelly Bean Frog Story Writing and Robos- Biomimicry for Young Children

Tiny, tiny, tiny frogs! Some frogs are the size of a jellybean. Jelly bean frogs - wonderful inspiration! Of course we could not resist cutting out the tiniest frogs and to put them beside jelly beans. Brachycephalus frogs are less than a 1 cm long (0.39 inches) or approximately the size of a jelly bean. …

Patterns Everywhere! Be Inspired

Almost too perfect to be true. Like an artist has dreamed up some geometrically perfect and correct plants or sand dunes. Nature's symmetry is a subject that has fascinated philosophers, mathematicians, artists, architects, and physicists. Photo: Pixabay Patterns can be found everywhere in nature and walking around looking for pattern is a fun, imaginary activity …

Why is Biomimicry Important?

It might be difficult to understand why biomimicry is important and what children can learn from this approach to look at nature to find inspiration for new ideas. Most school teach children about how animals and plants grow, where they can be found, and taxonomy but nature can be used as an inspiration to solve …

Crittery Steps and Long Jumps – Critical and Lateral Thinking

There are many metaphors that describe thinking – but they are  constructed for adults. New and engaging terms are needed to explain different thinking styles for young children. The metaphor Think Dive is fun and it may help children to explore their own thinking process. It also explains in a clear way what is required …

Build like a Bee

How can you use a lotus flower to make a cosy reading nook? Why would you want to build a floating city? And how can an ant be used to build a huge garbage machine? LEGO, building blocks and a keen eye that observes the world of animals and plants. These are the key ingredients …

Fabulous Observations to Inspire New Ideas

I made posters that can be used to support children’s observations when exploring Biomimicry with Young Children. You can put poster up in your home or the classroom and let your child/students add their own observations. You can also add the observations to an imagination task and tell or write a story about what it …

Making an Animal Protection Ad

"OK, let's see what we can do about this". To create an advert you need a catchy snappy tagline. And you need to think about how other people will interpret the message. What else do you need to think about when you create an advert? Is the simpler the better? Should it rhyme? Or play …

Lateral Thinking and Smartness

"Sometimes kids makes us look really stupid?" Lateral thinking can be described as thinking that is creative and "outside the box". A deliberate search for alternatives and possibilities. Lateral thinking jumps - and there is no need explain every step in the thinking. In logical thinking every step needs to make sense.  The important thing …

Philosophical Questions and Children – Who Owns the Sky?

I love this new TV series for children that challenges their thinking! Each film contains an animated parable, that can be used in the classroom or at home to engage in philosophical puzzlement. Everyday questions and pondering are explored and each film consist of a variety of different children's responses to the questions. A perfect …

Visualisation, Maths and Kids

Visualising is a great tool when we are solving problems. We can create an image of a situation to make sense of it. Sometime we visualise to explore “what will happen if. . . .?" Visualising helps kids: to explore a model to plan ahead to dive into a problem Visualising to explore a model …

Picture Books, Giggling Toddlers and Lat Jumping

Toddlers are often amused by things that are out of ordinary. A sense of humour is healthy for the immune system, it increases a child’s self-esteem, and promotes an optimistic outlook on life. To understand jokes requires a child to know what has been said or done is wrong. The joker intended to say or do …

Different Ways to Think

The idea that you can explicitly teach young children think may seem strange. Children are curious and they love to explore and look at the world. Thinking is serious business and something that is not associated with children. This view is based upon the idea that thinking is a “boring” and “lonely” activity. Yet thinking …

Lateral Thinking

Thinking can be regarded as a skill. This approach to thinking means that everyone can improve her approach to thinking. A lateral approach to thinking means that a child deliberately searches for alternatives – often using tools to disrupt a more obvious way of approaching a problem and arriving at the solution from another angle. …

Ah, Logical Stuff – Children and Logical Thinking

It is tempting to look at thinking as an all-or-none phenomenon. Children are either logical or illogical. Calm and calculated, or whimsical dreamers. But what annoys you the most – a logical or illogical child? Or maybe it is easier to shift the focus away from children and think about some situations where you have …

Lateral Thinking and Children

Several Different Ways to Think The idea that you can explicitly teach young children think may seem strange. Children are curious and they love to explore and examine the world. Thinking is serious business and something that is not associated with children. This view is based upon the idea that thinking is a “boring” and …

How to Use Six Hats with Young Children

The Six Thinking Hats are often explicitly taught to children above the age of six. But there are several ways in which you can inspire and motivate younger children to think in a deliberate way. You use the six hats to focus and direct your attention to certain aspects. Instead of letting your thinking spread …