This resource was created by a team of Kindergarten educators to help educators to develop the skills and attitudes for students in the Early Years to become problem solvers and innovators. The resource highlights two important processes in the frame of Problem Solving and Innovating in the Kindergarten Program: The Inquiry Process and the Technological Problem-Solving Process.
Introduction to the Science and Innovation in Kindergarten Resources
Introduction to the Science and Innovation in Kindergarten Resources (pdf)
Introduction video for all resources
Projects that Engage Students in the Inquiry Process
Painting Inquiry
This project engages students in experimenting with different painting techniques, such as exploring mixing primary colours and painting with different tools. This project delves deeper in the inquiry process with the book, “The Colours of Us” to explore creating different shades of skin tones. This resource also makes connections to the outdoors and provides opportunities for students to explore colours they observe in the outdoors and how they can be recreated with paint.
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Garden Inquiry
This project engages students in engaging in the inquiry process about gardens in their community. It provides opportunities for students to learn more about gardens through picture books, outdoor exploration, creating art pieces and classroom discussions. It also provides students with a chance to delve deeper in hands-on exploration about how plants grow and stay healthy.
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Butterfly Inquiry
This project engages students in the inquiry process about butterflies in their school community. They have opportunities to explore the differences in appearance between different insects such as butterflies and moths through class conversations, drawings, picture books and online resources.
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Family Inquiry
This project engages students in the inquiry process about their families, families in their classroom and animal families. Students have opportunities to discuss families through read alouds, outdoor experiences and guest speakers. They will also delve deeper in exploring concepts about home, including building homes with loose parts and different
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Projects that Engage Students in the Technological Problem Solving Process
Introduction to the Technological Problem Solving Process
The Goldilocks Coding Project
This project uses the story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” to engage students in different stages of the technological problem solving process in the Kindergarten Program document. Students can design structures that Goldilocks can build to replace items that she broke. It also engages students in a coding project that guides her path to reach the bear’s home.
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Movement Project
This project uses the story “Stuck” by Oliver Jeffers to engage students in the different stages of the technological problem solving process in the Kindergarten Program document. Students will have opportunities to create structures that boy in the story can use to retrieve items that get stuck in a tree.
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Creating a Garden Wall
This project engages students in the different stages of the technological problem solving process in the Kindergarten Program document with the story “Butterfly Park” by Elly MacKay. Students have an opportunity to engage in creating a living wall and analyzing how it grows and how improvements can be made on it.
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Accessible Playground
This project engages students in the different stages of the technological problem solving process in the Kindergarten Program document with the story “Zoom!” by Robert Munsch. Students have an opportunity to analyses school play structures in their school community and discuss whether it is accessible for all characters in the story, “Zoom!” After analyzing the structure, students will discuss and design changes that can be made to the structures so that it is accessible for different abilities.
