“...order, abundance, and variety of materials create fertile ground for making meaning out of the pieces and parts of our collective lives”

-Bringing Learning To Life



Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Someone's Trash is Someone Elses Treasure!


Wonder. Rethink. Tinker. Reinvent. Play.



Just a few collected, found, natural, recycled items can be a treasure, project, beautiful piece that someone elses vision brings to life!   

Looking for some inspiration or guidance with finding, storing and or using such materials in a learning/teaching environment for children and adults? 

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Professional Development Opportunities















Needing some inspiration for your classroom or school to stay beautiful the whole year?  Consult individually for your classroom or gain support from other educators in your school to do professional development around environments and curriculum using a variety of materials.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

After many months of RE: thinking, playing, inventing, configuring the Tinkering Project VT. has officially launched!  We are a registered non-profit corporation with a board of directors, by-laws, and strategic plan.  Thank you to all who supported the concept and encouraged us to move forward, and make a long coveted dream a reality. There is exciting work and learning ahead ~ for everyone involved!

Our goal, of course is to wonder, tinker, re-invent with recycled, open-ended and natural materials, but another is to tinker with ideas........ as professionals who work with children in multiple contexts; as citizens who want to think creatively about new ways of being; as children who want to tinker and play to make sense of their world.

Status Update
We have some projects in the works:
~ consulting with teachers to rethink their classroom environments
~ preK professional development sessions related to emergent curriculum
~setting up a Re:source studio space in a public school
as well as grant writing….forever......

a few Inspirational Sources

some of our Needs:
*let us know if you have any connections to materials (clean, safe, open-ended); we'll pick them up!

*we are itinerant right now, but are actively seeking  some ideal space to showcase and share our materials and ideas (bartering for materials, professional development is appealing)....do you know a business, school or church with some extra space?

*please SHARE:
your stories, materials, quotes, questions, images of children, families, the community engaged in tinkering. Please visit us on FACEBOOK!

p.s. if this is the first time you're visiting the blog please scroll down and become inspired!



Saturday, April 7, 2012

Table at Kindergarten Conference 2012



Inspired to share and invite others to learn about our project, we set up a table  at the 20th anniversary of the Vermont Kindergarten Conference on March 30th.  Showcasing materials, providing professional development opportunities, connecting with other educators in hopes of evoking a sense of wonder and curiosity,  we had lively conversations which we imagine will transfer into tinkering with new materials, ideas and concepts 'back at school'.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

"Tinkering Together" Februay Event

"The Tinkering Bench"




















Families and community members came together to tinker with a variety of materials.  The stories, conversations and creativity in their play; provoked by these open-ended materials was inspiring and exactly what our hopes and dreams were for such an event!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Launching Saturday Series


“Tinkering Together"
Wonder. Rethink. Tinker. Reinvent. Play.






WHEN:  2/18/2012

WHERE:  274 North Winooski Avenue Burlington VT

(Enter through red door at Learning Materials Workshop)

$15 per family with preschool age children (Includes treasures to take home)
Limited Space-reserve ahead @ tinkeringproject.vt@gmail.com
Join our blog: tinkeringprojectvt.blogspot.com

Looking for a weekend activity to do with your family?
Come be creative while thinking outside the box!  Gathering together children, friends, and community.  “Tinker” with items from nature, business extras, natural and recycled every day materials.

Support a non-profit’s mission...
To empower educators, children, and the community to connect, inspire and create their respective visions, through the creative
reuse of open-ended materials while simultaneously promoting environmental responsibilities.”

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Threads, Projects, Curriculum Reusing Materials



















This collection of photographs documents the use of materials in provoking, facilitating, and providing rich learning opportunities for children ages 3-5.  

The first series is a study of our community of Burlington.  Reusing tape, the children constructed a map of our school on the classroom floor also incorporating literacy as they labeled their construction.  

A study of self (portraints in particular in this case) incorporated a variety of materials reused such as the caps shown, gift packaging, tracing paper for self portraits, large butcher paper for portraits cast on the wall with a projector, inspired children.  

A child's interest in constructing a Rube Goldberg machine, inspired the study of machines!  A four month thread exploded into a majority of our classroom environment.  Using any material available, for example; cardboard tubes, automobile stainless steel funnels, tape, cardboard, packaging, old gutters, window shade samples, natural materials such as rocks, fence post pieces and recycled golf balls and ping pong balls all enhanced, challenged, and inspired children's hypothesis and theories.  Videos of Rube Goldberg Machines were studied by children, who then found inspirations in creating and constructing their own! Children brainstormed and collected what materials they would use to construct and test their machines.  This project surprisingly met every learning domain, style, and need.  Each child planned, illustrated and organized their ideas, taking on project manager.  Collaborating with peers to construct as well as deconstruct over a weeks time, each machine stood for a weeks time, adding to daily and tested endlessly.         

          A study of color; primary and complementary was experimented with in our classroom light studio.  Using old clear plastic ornaments, cardboard tubes, eye droppers, glass tubes from the UVM science labs, clear egg carton containers, coffee filters, plexi glass with magnets and recycled plastic cups from the ReStore.  Children were able to tinker and test mixing colors or shades, with the opportunity to save samples, allowing them to reflect upon the process and further their knowledge.