Earth Group - Toys in the Past

Transdisciplinary Theme: Where we are in place and time

Central Idea: There are similarities and differences between the way people lived long ago and the way people live today.

The children in Earth group were interested in how toys are different back then and now. 

First of all, we played with the marble run and the marble game, which children played in the olden days. Here were the children's ideas about marble games now and then:

• Paxton - "Marble run is made of plastic. People in the olden days might have wooden ones!"
• Mila - "It's not easy to knock out the marble!"
• Matthew - "We can also juggle with marbles."

Then, we compared building toys, Lego and Lincoln Log. The same group task was to build a house with these two materials. The children expressed their interests on the different materials the two building toys are made of. 

Matthew - "There is no wooden Lego."
Paxton - "We can not make plastic Lincoln Log."

It was interesting to see how the children think the toy materials are not interchangeable. This exploration about toys now and then could be a good start leading to more discussion about new materials being discovered and new inventions being made.