Designing Minds

From dedicated Design Time with Creativity and Design Teacher Deborah Morrone-Bianco to classroom project work incorporating design skills and design thinking, Primary students are stretching their technical skills while developing essential habits of mind. 

This fall, kindergarten students learned about paper engineering and experimented with 3D paper construction techniques, such as cones, loops, fringes, and pop-outs. Students learned and practiced creating one of the paper engineering techniques and expressed their understanding by incorporating it into a fall project where they gave a pumpkin character glasses, cone-shaped noses, and curlicues of hair. 

First graders practiced consensus-building and revision as they worked in teams to construct the tallest tower possible out of cups, cardboard, tiles, and cubes. They also started a longer-term design project where they will use paper engineering to design and build a 3D model of one of the trees they learned about in science this fall. 

To culminate a unit on bridges, second graders designed, built, and tested bridges made out of popsicle sticks and wood glue. They also built models of one of the four types of bridges they learned about this fall and tested them to determine which was strongest. Second graders also learned about the indigenous peoples of Massachusetts and used a combination of craft and natural materials to design a wetu or a longhouse. “When you connect curriculum with hands-on problem-solving activities, it deepens and enriches the learning,” says Head of Primary School Katie Knuppel. 

This fall, Deborah introduced kindergarten students to the Fay School Design Process and concepts like brainstorming, evaluating a design, and revising it to improve it. As they incorporated 3D design elements into their pumpkins, some kindergarten students struggled with the careful folds and intricate scissor work required, making several attempts before they were satisfied. “It isn’t about making a pumpkin; it’s about the technique,” says Deborah. “The students were able to learn, practice, and apply the 3D design elements successfully.” 

Experimenting with the right materials to create a longhouse or analyzing how a bridge breaks so they can build it stronger next time provides valuable experience in iterative thinking. “In the design process, that idea that it’s never over and that something can always be better is exciting,” says Katie.

Primary School students are challenged by the idea that there can be multiple and even infinite solutions to a question. “Everyone might be coming up with different ways to solve a problem, and that’s okay,” says second grade teacher Jessica Nichols. “Open-ended projects help foster the students’ growth mindset.” For example, first graders are designing the trunk for their 3D trees, which will be laser cut in the Center for Creativity and Design. Then, students will have to figure out how to make the tree stand and attach branches and leaves. “This is going to make your brain grow!” promised first grade teacher Jill Gibbons as she explained the project and the variety of directions students might go with their design.

Design thinking provides rich opportunities to target skills like flexibility, perseverance, and collaboration. As they started to build their towers, some first grade teams found it challenging to compromise on a single design. It could also be frustrating when a plan wasn’t working, or a tower unexpectedly fell and had to be rebuilt. “It’s interesting to see how students manage the unexpected,” says Kindergarten teacher Lee Bogaert. “The open-ended nature of design thinking challenges students to be flexible and responsive in the moment.” These projects can also spotlight strengths that may be less visible in math or literacy, such as consensus-building, leadership, and empathy. When second graders tested their four bridge designs, the suspension bridge was the most challenging to build and held the least weight. Second grade teacher Willa Gustavson noticed one student lean over to a disappointed classmate, compliment his work, and acknowledge how complex his design had been. “This is the empathy piece of design thinking,” she says, “where you understand how other people see things and communicate it.” 

Finally, design thinking normalizes mistake-making and teaches that mistakes are part of the process. “It’s interesting to watch students become comfortable with what they see as failures or mistakes,” says Lee. “When they realize they had to make those mistakes to finally get it right, they’re so much prouder of the final project.”