I was at a thrift store when I found a box of wooden dominoes, and it got me thinking how fun it is to line up a row of dominoes, touch one, and then watch the chain reaction. I wanted my students to experience that as well, so I began collecting dominoes.
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On another thrift store adventure, I found a huge bag of wooden train tracks and trains. Then later I found Gears, Tinker-Toys, and a marble run. I decided to have a February Fun Day called "Creative Day," where the students could just be creative and make things with their hands. We gave them an extra 10-15 minutes out of a few classes and let them create. As usual, they amazed me.
I told them that they'd get extra points if they built something from history into their creations. Stonehenge appeared in the middle of the train tracks, the popsicle stick table produced the Mona Lisa and The Girl With the Pearl Earring, the marble run became the Roman aqueducts, and dominoes became the pyramids of Giza.
Roman aqueducts
Stonehenge
the pyramids of Giza
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