Skills Building: The Most Magnificent Thing (3-5)

Instructions

1. Before beginning the activity, set up all supplies on a separate table where students can get whatever they need for their project.
2. Have students sit at tables with plenty of room to work.
3. Give students instructions:
   Teacher: “In life, it’s good to have a sidekick to help us with everyday activities. Today, we are going to design and create our own robotic dog! For this activity, you may use any of the items on the supplies table to create your Robot Dog. Your robot can look however you want, but it must do something. You can make it move, hold something, pick up something or anything you want. We will first design our Robot Dogs on paper and then build them. When we are finished, we will present our Robot Dogs to our friends.”
4. Select a student to pass out pencils and another to pass out white paper to each of their classmates.
5. Give students five minutes to design their Robot Dogs. Younger students may want to add a string to pull their dog (this will be its “task”). While the teacher may offer students ideas, allow them to use their creative problem solving skills.
6. Give students 15 minutes to create their Robot Dogs.
7. If they run into problems or challenges, ask questions to encourage personal reflection rather than solve problems for them.
8. When finished, have students clean up their space.
9. Gather students together to share their creations.