Making
“The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create people who are capable of doing new things.”
In each episode of The Paper Girls Show, the characters engage in making projects that build science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) knowledge and skills. You can support children’s STEAM knowledge and skills by trying out these making projects at home or school!
These making projects engage children in constructivist and constructionist learning. Jean Piaget pioneered constructivist learning, which posits that learning does not involve passively receiving information, but rather actively constructing understanding through experience. Building on this theory, Seymour Papert developed constructionist learning, which emphasizes the power of making in real-world contexts to construct understanding.
Education research suggests that constructivist and constructionist learning can support deep understanding, intrinsic motivation and academic achievement. Moreover, recent neuroscience research suggests that active engagement in learning is actually necessary for the changes in the brain that underlie learning to take place at all! When individuals are actively engaged in learning relevant information, this gradually shapes the brain’s structure. By contrast, when individuals are passively exposed to information that is not relevant to them, it does not change their brain.
You can engage children in constructivist and constructionist learning experiences that build their STEAM knowledge and skills by having them do The Paper Girls Show making projects. To get started, read below!
Engage Children in The Paper Girls Show Maker Activities
Encourage children to upcycle
In Episode 2, Caily and Reese collect Queen Frivol’s plastic junk to use as materials for making projects, asserting “one queen’s trash is someone else’s treasure!” Upcycling, or creating things from discarded materials, is a wonderful way for children to learn through making. What discarded materials do you have laying around your home or school? There are endless ways children can use them to make their own creations! Encourage children to think creatively about innovative uses for discarded materials. Could a glass bottle be decorated and made into a beautiful pot for a plant? Could a wooden box be refurbished into a whimsical toy chest? For inspiration, check out Beauty Harmony Life’s DIY ideas to recycle your potential garbage.
Engage children in making paper crafts
Paper is an easily accessible, versatile material for making projects. The Paper Girls Show showcases many fun paper making crafts! For example, invite children to try making Vitimini Handmade’s DIY origami bird’s nest from Episode 6, or the Foldscope Instruments’ Paper microscope from Episode 10. Children might also like making origami. Try The Paper Girls Show and Taro’s Origami Studio’s Origami activities. As shown in Episode 9, even shredded paper makes great raw material for crafts! If you have shredded paper at home, check out Red Ted Art’s Uses for shredded paper.
Paper can also be integrated with technology in making projects. The Paper Girls Show provides fun activities of this type as well. For example, children can try making Instructables’ Radio controlled paper plane from Episode 8, or Wired’s Musical instruments with conductive ink featured in Episode 7.
Invite children to integrate light into their maker projects
Many children find it exciting to make projects that light up. The Paper Girls Show features a couple fun projects that integrate light. In Episode 1, Caily and Reese make a fabulous LED light up dress. To try this at home or school, see the directions in See it Be it’s How to make your own light up ball gown. If you have a 3D printer, you could also try making Instructables’ 3D printed glow star from Episode 2.
Offer children maker projects to keep their secrets
The Paper Girls Show features fun maker projects to keep things secret. For example, in Episode 5, the characters make invisible ink to keep Dev’s lemonade recipe secret. With this invisible ink, you can’t see the writing until it is exposed to light. How cool is that? To try this at home or school, you can have children make Science Kid’s Invisible ink with lemon juice and then invite them to write a secret note to a friend or sibling! For example, they might like to hide something, and then write a secret treasure map for their friend or sibling to find it. Children can also make projects to protect their “top secret” information or spaces, such as Maker Pro’s Finger print scanner from Episode 5, and WikiHow’s Door alarm from Episode 3.
Invite children to try making simple robots
In Episode 4, Reese and Caily’s robotics team make a robot! Professor Seymour, a character inspired by Seymour Papert, supports the team to create a robot that has multiple functions. If you’d like to introduce children to making simple robots, Research Parent’s Easy robotics projects for kids is a great resource.
Would you like to try more making activities? Check out the further resources below!
Further Resources
Curious Jane’s Making resources
DIY’s online DIY courses
Instructables’ Making resources
Make’s Maker community and projects
Maker Space for Education’s Constructionism and constructivism article