Gilmore Elementary Grade 3 teacher Sean Aldcroft was worried no-one would be interested when he started Tinker Minds, a new group at the school that meets Tuesdays during lunch.
“It’s a maker space where the basic premise is to bring something interesting you want to take apart or put together,” he explained. “And we weren’t sure how things would go, considering we were starting with a bag of wool, half a dozen screwdrivers, a clapped out VCR and some glue guns!”
Three weeks in, he’s observed some interesting things taking place in a group that’s attracting between six and 12 students each week.
“Two young ladies pulled out the glue guns, some cardboard and tinted acetate and made tinted visors that make their users look like Robocop Junior,” he said. “The VCR has been eviscerated by a small army of eager screwdriver wielders, and a hair dryer, immersion blender and two old CD players are following suit!”
Interest was so strong, Aldcroft had to ask students to bring their own tools, so there would be enough screwdrivers and pliers for everyone.
Not everyone is taking electrical items apart. Tinker Minds also includes a knitting club, where a dozen children and some teachers are knitting, learning to knit and teaching others how to knit. One of the keenest knitters is Gilmore’s vice-principal, who learned to cast on and do a couple of stitches.
Just across the way from the knitters, Aldcroft said an extremely active Grade 2 student with acute selective listening “has been quietly and carefully removing the bark from a large stump with a mallet and chisel.”
The creativity Aldcroft is witnessing in his maker space has exceeded all his expectations.
“I’ve gone from worrying no-one would be interested to wishing lunch on Tuesdays was twice as long,” he admitted. “It feels like we just get going before the bell rings and we have to pack it all away for another week!”
