From Tinkering to Teaching

October 03, 2024

From Tinkering to Teaching

How Making Things Builds Resilience

As a child, I was always encouraged to tinker, build, and create. Little did I know that this love for making things would not only shape my career as an innovative teacher but also build a foundation of resilience that would serve me throughout my life.

The Power of Hands-On Learning

Looking back, I realize that those hours spent in my father’s workshop were more than just fun and games. They were crucial experiences that fostered important skills and mindsets contributing to resilience. As the research shows, making, building, crafting, and STEM activities are excellent ways to build resilience in children [https://www.lego.com/en-us/how-to-build-resilience-in-children].

Problem-Solving and Persistence

Every project I tackled as a young maker presented its own set of challenges. Sometimes, my initial ideas didn't work out as planned. But instead of giving up, I learned to approach problems systematically, try multiple strategies when my first attempts failed, and persist through frustration and setbacks. This ability to persevere in the face of obstacles became a cornerstone of my resilience. Problem solving and curiosity drove me to develop research skills that have served me well in my career as an educator, educational technologist as well as in the humanities, biblical studies, and theology.

Growth Mindset

The iterative nature of making and tinkering naturally lends itself to developing a growth mindset. With each project, I saw my skills improve with practice. What once seemed like failures became valuable learning opportunities. This cultivated a belief that my abilities could be developed through dedication and hard work – a key component of resilience.

Emotional Regulation

Working on projects taught me to manage frustration when things didn't go as planned and to stay calm under pressure. These skills in emotional regulation have proven invaluable throughout my life and career, helping me navigate challenges with a level head, like having 28 four-and-a-half-year-olds in a full-day classroom.

From Maker to Teacher, Teacher to Maker

As I grew older, my love for making things evolved into a passion for teaching. I found that the resilience I had built through years of creating translated beautifully into the classroom. When I had my first teaching job was having so much fun creating learning experiences every day, I thought I had really arrived. Later in my career, when I taught the youngest students, I restarted my woodworking hobby because I realized that my students shouldn't have all the fun. As an educator, I was able to:

Encourage Risk-Taking: I created a classroom environment where students felt safe to take healthy risks, pushing beyond their comfort zones to discover new abilities.
Foster Independence: By introducing a wide range of activities, I helped students discover their passions and think independently.
Embrace Change: I taught my students about the inevitability of change, encouraging them to view it as an exciting opportunity rather than a threat.
Promote Self-Discovery: Through hands-on activities, I encouraged students to engage in self-discovery, increasing their self-awareness and resilience.

Building Resilience Through STEM and Making

In my classroom, I incorporated many STEM and making activities to help build resilience in my students. These activities provided opportunities for:

Collaborative problem-solving
Creative risk-taking
Developing a growth mindset
Building confidence and competence

By engaging in hands-on STEM, making, building, and crafting activities, my students developed the problem-solving skills, growth mindset, emotional regulation, confidence, creativity, and teamwork that form the building blocks of resilience.

The Lasting Impact

Looking back on my journey from a young tinkerer to an innovative teacher, I'm struck by how those early experiences with making things shaped not only my career but my entire approach to life's challenges. The resilience I built through creating has been a constant companion, helping me navigate the ups and downs of both personal and professional life.

As educators and parents, we have the opportunity to foster this same resilience in the next generation. By encouraging children to tinker, make, and create, we're not just keeping them busy – we're equipping them with the mental toughness and problem-solving skills they'll need to overcome life's challenges.

So, the next time you see a child engrossed in building something, remember: they're not just playing around – they're building their resilience, one creation at a time. And, if you have read this far, thank you! Today I am privileged to support individuals, families, homeschool groups, church groups, afterschool programs, companies, charter schools, MakerSpaces and more as an ibrick Educational Program Coordinator. See www.ibrick.online for more info and ask me any question you have about how to bring their engineering play to a child near you. Contact me for my special discount code and how you can get a subscription for a 5-12 year old started today.

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This article is written with assistance from Perplexity.ai and Claude.ai

Images are mine with help from Canva