Taking hints. . .

Recently I’ve explored how the world of marketing can teach us something about hooking children in for learning.  It would not be authentic to simply take cues or imitate the world of marketing without really analyzing what aspects of a child’s thinking skills they are captivating.  We all know how successful Legos (and other various building bricks) are in our culture.  They really are fascinating.  The NC Arboretum is hosting a Lego in nature show—fascinating on so many levels.    I would challenge any parent or educator to make mental brainstorm lists of what makes things fascinating to children and then build lessons on those features.  I’ll model such a list based on the fascinating nature Lego show at the Arboretum.

–the Lego features themselves—challenge a child to build something they like in nature out of Legos or similar bricks;  –the setting:  is the object featured native to this area? teach them about Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species; cover some Latin terms;–placement:  who made these features and who gets to see them?  how?  why?—favorites:  which feature is a favorite and why?  write about it;–how many bricks do you estimate are in a certain feature; how did you come up with this number; compare your estimate to the real number; what was the difference?  how close to being right were you percentage-wise?

Learning should never be dull; it doesn’t have to be dull.  Captivate learners—that’s the charge of educators.