My Toy Needs A Home

Activity type: Offline
For ages: 5 to 7
Time: 30 minutes
Learning outcome: Decomposition, Pattern Recognition, Algorithm, Debugging

About "My Toy Needs A Home"
Playing with wooden blocks and toy animals at home? The task is for your child to build a safe space, where they can keep their item of choice away from the "big bad wolf", while giving it enough space to run and play.

Materials Needed:
• Wooden blocks or similar item (big lego blocks)
• Stuffed toy

Instructions

Problem Formulation: Set a problem for your child that requires them to build and design a space for their toy (e.g. Fluffy needs a place to sleep).
Decomposition: Work with them to unpack the different requirements in the task (e.g. What will she need if she want to sleep? Probably a bed and a blanket).
Planning: Ask them what they plan to do and the rationale behind it. (e.g. Where to build? How to build? What do we need? Probably find a cozy corner where Fluffy could sleep in peace, and cordon it off to prevent other people from disturbing it).
Debugging: Identify possible problems and ask how they would solve them (e.g. There's not enough space for Fluffy to sleep. We need to increase the size of her bed).
Of course as a bonus, a friend or family member can play the big, bad wolf!