Tinker Tubs: An Early Years Approach to Maker Education

“The best way to activate your classroom is for your students to make something.”

Sylvia Libow Martinez and Gary Stager (2019)

Let me start by saying I know this may not be the PERFECT way to approach Maker Education in the Early Years. I’m not even sure there is a perfect way. I do NOT profess to be an expert on Maker Education or even the Early Years. But I am passionate about students creating. I tailored this for the school I work in, the teachers I work with, the space we have, and the students we teach. My hope is that it works for OUR students. If it doesn’t then I’ll go back to the drawing board.

A little background first. When I arrived at the school in August 2020, we were online. I barely stepped into the building until August 2021! There had been a makerspace in ELC (Early Learning Centre) in the past and the space had been changed, so it no longer existed. 

Last school year, 2021-2022, I led a book club for colleagues. We read ‘Invent to Learn‘. I highly recommend the second edition, even if, like me, you’ve already read the first edition. Inspired by the book, I was keen to bring a maker mindset to the ELC, where our youngest students (aged 2-6) learn and grow.  I set about developing a system I hoped would enable multiple classes to engage with multiple maker resources throughout the year. After many fruitful discussions with teachers and leadership, the idea for Tinker Tubs started to evolve. Over the coming months, I spent many hours researching, planning, and organising. 

I’ll go into more detail later in this post but first, here is a little introductory video that I made in June 2022, when I had completed the initial Phase 1 setup:

So, where did I start? Well, the first step was presenting a rationale to the leadership team. This was also targeted to align with the school’s Future Plan, with a focus on creativity.

As much as possible, I also tried to use resources we already had in the building. I uncovered quite a treasure trove of items while exploring different cupboards! I also asked ELC teachers to share any existing ‘maker’ resources they had in their rooms, so I knew what we had to start with. Then we decided upon the main learning areas we hoped to provide resources for.

I was given two massive cupboards to house the Tinker Tubs. The cupboards were full of…. well, lots of different items! Some useful, some not. A huge clearout ensued. I hate throwing things away, but I ditched anything that was broken or unuseable. Any resources that did not seem age appropriate were reassigned to the Elementary Makerspace. In the end, the only things in the cupboards were going to end up in a Tinker Tub!

I ordered resources and tubs. While waiting for the resources to arrive I worked on setting up the information sheets and teacher reference table. Tubs and resources started arriving and by the end of the school year, Phase 1 was organised and ready to go! Read more to find out what Phase 1 consists of.

Tinker Tub system Phase 1:

1. 12 Tinker Tubs – each tub focuses on one of 5 main learning areas:

   1. Construction and Engineering

   2. Electronics and Circuitry

   3. Coding and Robotics

   4. Science

   5. Textiles

2. Information sheet – each tub is labelled with an info sheet that shows (example below):

   1. A list of contents

   2. Learning opportunities the tub can provide

   3. QR codes that link to videos of ideas for how to use the tubs

1. Barcodes – each tub is labelled with a barcode for checkout through the Library system (nearby)

2. Teacher reference table – this shows a quick at-a-glance list of the Tinker Tubs we have and the learning opportunities that each tub could provide. Click on the table below for full image:

Let’s get tinkering!

This school year will be a time for teachers to explore the Tinker Tubs with their students. I will work with teams to help to identify tubs that might have conceptual links to the curriculum. I’m also planning to support teachers in classrooms as they first introduce the students to the tubs. Ideally, the tub will be in the classroom for a few weeks, so students can choose to use the resources if, and when, they want to.

After a while, I will also be asking for feedback and suggestions from teachers about how the Tinker Tubs can be improved, what’s working, and what’s not. I’m keen to add additional tubs, particularly for our ‘Coding and Robotics’ and ‘Science’ areas. Rome wasn’t built in a day… this project might take a couple of years to reach its full potential. Right now, I’m excited to get the ball rolling, and to just have our students making, making, making!

Watch this space – I hope to update you soon with successes (and failures!).

#InventtoLearn #ELC #MakerEducation #Creativity #EarlyYears #TinkerTubs