Friday, May 27, 2011

Make Your Own Computer

In looking through my photos, I found this picture.


We were using different types of communication to tell good news to people. I like this activity because it uses a mixture of real and homemade resources.

I didn't make the computer but found it in our resource room. Some thoughtful person had made it and left it for us to use. The monitor is a box covered with black paper. Then a white rectangle was added to the front for the screen. Two holes were punched in the side. The keyboard wire and the mouse wire were plugged into the holes on the side. Ta-da! A computer.

I remember wondering how the homemade computer would be used by the kids. Would they just see it as a box covered with black paper? Would they be unhappy that the type didn't really appear?

Well, here's some of what they did.




The kids typed on the keyboard and moved the mouse. They used the telephones and wrote notes, too.

I always enjoy the kids' imaginations. And a box covered with black paper can be a conduit to that imagination.