ToyMakers.

Miss Lettice needed help…
 

On the first day of school, Miss Lettice was in a pickle! Whilst she was sorting out her new class room, she dropped a lot of games and all of the different pieces got muddled up. The children were a great help and agreed to help her put all the game pieces back with the correct game. They did this so quickly, and discovered that some of the games were unfamiliar to them… some of them were games people played in the past!

Let’s find out more about toys!

Year One were so excited about the games from the past, we decided to do some research. The children ventured around school, asking all of the grown ups the year they were born and they toy they liked to play with the most when they were small. Year one found it fascinating looking at all the images of the different toys the grownups spoke about. 
 

One day we walked into the classroom to find lots of different toys all over our tables. Some looked very old and some we recognised. After having a play, we decided to sort them into modern toys and old toys.

We found out that the material used to make toys has changed over time. Old fashioned toys were mainly made from wood, metal, tin or cloth, whilst more modern toys mainly use plastic. We have been looking at this in our writing and have been composing some excellent sentences.

Are all toys safe for everybody?

After exploring a variety of toys, the children noticed that some of the toys and games had very small parts, that might not be safe for smaller children or babies. We decided to investigate this further and see if there was anything on the boxes or toys that could help us identify who could play with this toy. Upon close inspection, the children noticed some numbers with a + next to them. We found out that this was the age you should be to play with that toy. The children were worried that small children might get hold of the wrong toy, so we discussed the words suitable and unsuitable and decided to sort a variety of toys in to suitable for babies and unsuitable for babies. The children felt very reassured that any small children would be safe with their toys. Great job Year One! 

If you go down to year one today, you’re sure of a big surprise! 
 

Everybody loves teddies! We had a marvellous time at our teddy bear picnic, despite the rain meaning it had to stay inside. They children enjoyed a drink, biscuit and a chat with their friends and teddies. We discussed why our teddies are special and why we love them so much. Some children even noticed the material their teddies are made from was similar to that of some old fashioned toys! 
We loved hearing and singing along to the teddy bear picnic song and had a little dance with our bouncy, beautiful bears…

We had a look at some bear books during our picnic and discussed what we liked most about them. Miss Lettice loved the books that had used alliteration in the title! The children then came up with some alliterative words to go along with bear! We had bouncy bears, bonnie bears, brilliant bears, boisterous bears and birthday bears! We used these to create a subheading for the next part of our writing.
 

Does playing always involve toys?
 

We have also been exploring the different ways we can play. Do we always have to play with toys to be playing? How else can we play? The children expressed that many of them enjoy playing on their tablets and game consoles, so we decided to investigate technology further…

We learnt that technology often needs power , and that as it evolves, inventors create even better pieces of technology. We agreed that although technology is wonderful and helps us in our daily lives, there is such things as too much screen time, which can make us grumpy or very tired. 
 

We found some cut up paper on our tables and decided to piece them together. We discovered some images of children playing with technology. The children noticed that these children had lots of toys around them and couldn’t understand why they were playing on their tablet rather than with their toys. 

We decided to re enact these images, using drama to create conversations between parent and child about screen time. We took this very seriously!

Should we play with technology all day? 
 

Some children raised a point… “too much screen can make your eyes go square”. We discussed how our eyes wouldn’t actually turn square, but playing with technology too much can not only hurt our eyes, but our brains too. 
We decided to have a look at what the experts say about screen time, and found out that children aged 5 and 6 should have about 2 hours of screen time a day. Lots of us have very clear rules about when we can use our tablets at home.

                                         

We worked out when we think the best time for screen time is. Before school was too busy, we may use it to help us learn at school but after school there was some more time. We agreed that we shouldn’t really use our tablets whilst we are eating, as that’s a nice time to talk to our families and spend time together. We also spoke about how we shouldn’t watch our screens at bedtime, as it keeps our brains too busy and means we don’t sleep properly. We decided that the best time for our screen time was after school, before we have our dinner!

What did we notice about Gabriel?

After watching the video, we saw how incredibly talented Gabriel was at making toys. We noticed however, that even though he is making toys in the modern day, he uses wood instead of plastic. We discussed that this is because wood produces less waste than plastic and is less harmful to our planet. We were fascinated by the different tools he uses

 and loved the bright colours he used to paint the toys. Gabriel said he works 6/7 days a week, making toys.

Some of the children were concerned that Gabriel’s workshop seemed a real mess, with lots of things spread about. We noticed an energy drink too, which made us think that Gabriel might be tired. We also saw that his hands were a little dirty, so we know he works very hard. We think Gabriel is an older man, and we heard him talk about his wife…

Gabriel needs help…

As our story continued, we saw a tired, overworked Gabriel, having a conversation with his wife. She suggested he may need some help in the workshop. Gabriel was reluctant but began to draw out a help wanted poster. We saw him carefully adding his phone number and the jobs he needed doing…

”HELP WANTED, toy maker, 3 days a week…”. 
Suddenly, Gabriel stood up, scrunching up and throwing his poster across the room. “I DON’T WANT ANY HELP”. he screamed and stormed away. 
 

The children were concerned about Gabriel after this and discussed how maybe he felt embarrassed that he couldn’t do his work alone anymore. They decided to help Gabriel to make his help wanted posters and send them to him, despite being slightly worried he might scrunch them up…

Could we be the perfect fit?

The children were delighted to see that the posters they made for Gabriel had been displayed all around, when they had an idea…

They discussed how they had been learning all about toys since they began in year 1 and now knew enough to be experts. Could we help Gabriel? Yes! We are the perfect fit! 
The children came across some cut up paper and began piecing them together, revealing a name and a logo.

”The Toy Tinkerers”.

Everybody decided that this would be the perfect name for our team! We would be working with toys and experimenting with materials. 
 

Let’s go team! 

Th workshop.

The first job the team undertook was to create Gabriel’s workshop. We discussed the different things he may have, such as shelves, wood, a broom, tools and books. 
The team set about making wood and shelves, as well as gathering trinkets to display. We remembered that his workshop was a mess, so didn’t fuss too much about making it neat. 
The team were unhappy with it being called “the workshop” and felt that a place that makes such lovely toys should have a name that reflects that… so they decided on the name “The Creation Station”!

Tools, tools, tools!

The team began looking at the tools Gabriel uses in order to familiarise themselves with his process. We explored hammers, saws, screwdrivers, sandpaper and pliers. The team discussed what each tool would be used for and how to use them safely. Gabriel’s tools were very interesting, but he didn’t have many. How could we all make toys with such few tools? How could we solve this? After putting their heads together , the team decided the best thing to do would be to make their own tools, using tinfoil. 
They quickly got to work, bending, folding, scrunching and manipulating the foil into the different tool shapes and added them to the workshop. Great problem solving team! 

What is an artist? What is a sculpture?
 

In order to help Gabriel, the team decided that they need to delve deeper into the skills needed to be a toy maker. They decided to practice their drawing skills, to help them with the future design work they would undertake. 
 

The team discussed that Gabriel is a talented, clever man and that the pieces he makes are works of art. They then spoke about the fact that his toys are similar to sculptures, as they are made from wood and sometimes represent different things, such as cars, trains and boats. They analysed other sculptures by other artists, looking at alternative materials to Gabriel’s wood. 
They decided, in order to practice their drawing, they would use their observational skills to draw their version of the “6000 lightbulb” sculpture. The team produced some fantastic drawings, and were so focused and dedicated. 

Playful making 

In order to further their skills for toy making, the team continued their work on sculptures. They discussed how when Gabriel makes toys he will follow a design process, and have an idea of what his final product would be  before he makes it. The team decided to have a go at making sculptures without a design idea first. They were given 4 prompts. 

• Make something someone might want to steal. 
• Make a family of things.
• Make something that balances.
• Make something small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. 

At first, the team found this tricky, however, with lots of perseverance they began to create and “go with the flow”. We had some wonderful creations…handbags,boats,magic balancing boxes, cakes, scales and families of dolls.

A visit to the workshop.

The team received their first email from Gabriel, asking them to go to his workshop.
They eagerly replied and rushed over to his workshop. We noticed that that his workshop was in an even worse state. His works bench was covered with paints, tools and various incomplete toys. This made the team concerned, as they felt as though Gabriel may still feel overwhelmed, even after our offers to help. 
 

The team noticed a large cardboard box next to the workbench, and wondered if this might be what Gabriel wanted us to look at. They carefully began unwrapping the bundles, revealing beautiful and intricate wooden toys. They decided that these toys must belong to Gabriel, and were ones he has made overtime. We agreed that we must be very careful with these toys as a lot of time, effort and love will have been put into their creation…

The team expressed an interest in using their observational skills and sketching the toys into their sketchbooks. They knew that this would aid them in their skill development and prepare them for their future in designing toys.

We wondered if this might have been what Gabriel meant….

Creating sculptures inspired by Gabriel’s work.

Eager to put their playful making skills to use, the team decided they would show Gabriel their dedication by creating sculptures inspired by Gabriel’s toys. We had a meeting to discuss the different resources we could use, and the ways in which we could fasten and join things together. The teams split, and chose a toy to inspire them per table. 
They did a wonderful job at selecting their materials to suit what they were going to make and making sure to only use what they needed. Gabriel liked to keep his work sustainable after all.

When they were finished, they decided to display our sculptures on Gabriel’s shelves, in the hopes he’d notice them when he arrived back at his workshop. We hope he’s impressed by our skills and dedication!