K

ROKeBook

Book No. 3 Playing

Construction Toysin the Classroom

by Richard Rosenfeld

“Play time offers many learning opportunities...”

to Learn

ROKeBook

Intro

Construction Toys in the Classroom

Published by

Rokenbok Toy Company

215 US Highway 101, Suite 101

Solana Beach, CA 92075

(858) 259-4433

www.rokenbok.com

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Write to us at: paule@rokenbok.com

It’s not just child’s playROK

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Play time offers many learning opportunities

As an elementary school educator, I have been drawn to using a variety

of construction toys to teach what I deem to be critical knowledge

and skills to school-aged children. I have more than 10 years teaching

experience using construction toys to help teach gifted and talented

children, special needs children, as well as the general population.

The value of using construction toys as part of various curriculum

is manifold: construction toys are open-ended (requiring divergent

thinking), offer team building and cooperative learning opportunities,

and allow participants to experience development and growth of their

Construction Toys in the Classroom

Playing to Learn

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projects through delayed gratification. This essay discusses the three leading construction systems that I

have used in my instruction, and compares and contrasts their relative benefits.

Even when a teacher is using the most durable construction toys, supervision is needed of the equipment

and supplies. Experience has shown that the instructor should train all children to find and use what

is needed, how to combine individual projects into a greater “collaborative” project, and to insure that

every child is making a constructive contribution to each session. Time must also be set aside to instruct

the children how to clean up and sort the materials in order to instill a sense of accountability for every

participant.

Rokenbok

I’ll start with my favorite system, Rokenbok. The Rokenbok System engages its users to design and

construct worlds of their own design, and interact with them via radio controlled vehicles. The structures

look like real-world buildings such as towers, skyscrapers and factories. Parts are quite durable; Rokenbok

structures build quickly using beams and blocks and most sets can be assembled in a relatively short time.

Once children learn about how the parts interact via the included color-coded, step-by-step instructions,

they can easily extend their designs and expand their layouts.

b

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Creativity is inevitable because there are a number of basic

parts that mesh with each other in copious ways. Perhaps the

best part of the system is that all of the buildings, elevators,

roadways and train tracks work with numerous real-world

radio-controlled scaled vehicles that interrelate within the

system. This means that buildings can be modified as the

trucks and trains move through the student-designed theatre.

While some students are driving their robots using a kid-

friendly keypad, others are continuing the building process

and both builders and drivers are problem solving to make

the structures more conducive to get jobs done more

efficiently or to fix unanticipated problems that developed

after the planning and building stages.

Rokenbok’s greatest achievement is that once a building is done it becomes a tool for driving, storing,

garaging and sorting. Given enough time and space, a build does not ever have to end, it just becomes

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part of a growing world. In the classroom, Rokenbok teaches problem solving and

cooperative activities. Rokenbok is also fantastic for teaching perimeter, area and

volume, graphing, patterns, and properties.

LEGO

Lego is one of the most popular building sets on the market today. While the

company offers individual parts and a few sets of assorted bricks from different

themed lines, most of their sets build one step-by-step model. The completed

models are beautiful and realistic. However, little creative thought is required

to follow directions. This means that students work on one model until it is

completed. It is hard to “play” with the model once it’s done. One challenge with Lego is that so many

custom parts are created for each new set. This means that the building process relies more on following

directions than being creative. A few models have motors, but once the model is complete, builders simply

watch their devices move with little interaction. Lego does offer a robotics series, which is branded as

Lego Mindstorms. This interactive set retails for about $250.00 and includes enough material for two or

three children.

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Perhaps the most challenging part about Lego from a teaching standpoint is storing parts. Since there are

so many different color and shape configurations, it’s almost impossible to keep track of

the individual parts. I have seen a group of three children spend 45 minutes attempting to

find a single red square tile in a bucket of red pieces. Over time, this can cause children to

lose interest in the building process. In the classroom, Lego bricks work best for teaching

counting and sorting and for building descriptive vocabulary about geometric properties.

For example, a teacher could ask students to build a rectangular prism. Lego also lends

itself to patterns and logic as structures become larger, and more realistic.

K’NEX

What K’NEX does well is allow a nice combination of free building and model making, focusing on

geometry, physical science and spatial relationships. The number of individual reusable parts is reasonable

and they store nicely in shoeboxes. The smaller spacers and gear locks can be placed in easily obtainable

arts and crafts containers. K’NEX has a few different product lines, but their most successful appear to

be amusement park rides and towers, which align nicely with the interests of school-aged children. In

an educational setting, I have effectively used K’NEX to teach the characteristics of triangles, which are

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essential for many modern day structures. By placing a standard protractor over a

K’NEX clip, angles can accurately be measured and concepts of complementary

and supplementary angles are clearly defined and understood.

K’NEX also offers several sets in their educational series that feature practical

bridge-building, simple machines and physical science concepts. Most of these

kits contain activity cards and teaching guides for the instructors who may not

have firsthand knowledge on how to use these materials with his or her class.

This is a case where some of the children might have an advantage over the

teacher, but that knowledge can be shared in an empowering way for the children

who are already comfortable with the system.

In recent years, K’NEX has focused quite a bit on micro parts, which are

significantly smaller than their classic offerings. These newer components have

a cheaper and flimsy feel to them which makes moving and transporting the

models very difficult. As in the classic sets, the fun is in the building. Once a

project is complete, the children simply watch it, which might cause an anti-

climatic lack of interest.

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As I mentioned earlier, the benefits for children who participate in construction projects extend far

beyond the mandated learning standards from the New York State Education Department. At our end-of-

the-year awards assembly, certificates and trophies are presented to children who excel in academics, the

arts, sports and service to our school. I have the pleasure of presenting a “Builder of the Year” Award.

The student I selected this year was a very deserving young man, who entered our school last year and did

not speak a word of English. When this sixth grader began building structures with the other children, his

natural skills were apparent to the other children and he was often asked for help and advice. As he was

building bridges, he was actually building friendships, as well as his confidence. Using these construction

opportunities, and working with his other teachers, his grades began to significantly improve and he began

to enjoy school. When his name was called at the awards ceremony, the applause was deafening. It was a

very special moment.

Another student in a different school, this time a young lady, was begging her parents for tools and

construction sets for her birthday, holidays and graduation. The most astonishing aspect about this was

that she would never have been exposed to these materials and skills if she hadn’t participated in our class

construction activities. I learned from her parents that she continues to enjoy building and fixing things

around the house.

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My favorite anecdote involves a scare that I had very early one morning when I entered my

classroom. When I opened the door, two custodians and three members of the grounds crew were

playing with our radio-controlled Rokenbok trucks. The look on their faces was similar to that of a

four-year-old with his hand in the cookie jar 10 minutes before dinner. I guess even the pros want to

play with construction toys too!

About the Author

After launching his teaching career in New York City, Richard Rosenfeld is now a teacher of gifted and talented students at The Howell Road and The James A. Dever Schools in Valley Stream School District #13. Rosenfeld also runs construction programs for summer camps in Nassau County. During the Summer 2009, he ran “Seven Flags” at Camp N’shama in Great Neck, New York, and has also worked with special needs children. These camps allowed him to share basic construction toys with younger children (grades K–2) and construct more impressive projects with older children (Grades 3–9). In his spare time, Rosenfeld loves spending time with his family, amusement parks, classic radio (with real disc jockeys), and fishing.