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Kindergarten STEM project uses simple materials to create worlds

Teacher Joan Lamain created this slideshow of ‘Not a Box’ day (courtesy)

Northview — A box is only a box… until it’s not a box! 

That’s the lesson students in Joan Lamain’s developmental kindergarten class at North Oakview Elementary got to learn recently, putting their imagination and construction skills to the test with boxes and cardboard tubes. 

The project was based on two books by author and illustrator Antoinette Portis, “Not a Box” and “Not-a-Box City,” in which the reader uses their power of imagination to transform a cardboard box into all sorts of objects. After reading the books, Lamain set her students loose to make their own creations and build their own worlds, using boxes and cardboard pieces of all shapes and sizes — plus copious amounts of tape. 

Her main instruction: “Be creative and create.”

“I have wanted to incorporate more STEM projects into DK, but they always seemed so intimidating,” said Lamain, who was inspired after participating in a webinar by the Van Andel Institute to give it a try. 

“The students absolutely loved it,” she said.  

DK student Jack said one of the best parts was “making towers, and we could make whatever we wanted.”

The process of construction also challenged students’ problem-solving skills, as some found it hard to build the exact creations they wanted. Sometimes the tape didn’t hold, or the boxes didn’t stay in place. 

“It was tricky to get them to stand up and stay,” said Leona of her cardboard pieces. 

Once everyone was satisfied with their tower, robot, castle or other creation, the class colored and decorated their handiwork, and later got to show them off to parents and staff. 

“Seeing the students so engaged and working together is inspiring me to do more STEM projects with the students,” Lamain said. “They learned so much from this one, and I am so proud of their hard work.”

Read more from Northview: 
Fourth-grade Choristers come together in song
Initiative aims to double enrollment in career & technical education

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Beth Heinen Bell
Beth Heinen Bell
Beth Heinen Bell is associate editor, copy editor and reporter covering Northview, Kent City and Grandville. She is an award-winning journalist who got her professional start as the education reporter for the Grand Haven Tribune. A Calvin University graduate and proud former Chimes editor, she later returned to Calvin to help manage its national writing festival. Beth has also written for The Grand Rapids Press and several West Michigan businesses and nonprofits. She is fascinated by the nuances of language, loves to travel and has strong feelings about the Oxford comma.

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