Page 15 - 木工创客空间与幼儿创新能力培养

PREFACE

In today’s innovation driven era, early childhood education is undergoing
profound changes. The traditional “cramming” teaching method can no longer
meet the expectations of modern society for diverse and creative talent needs.
As early childhood educators, we are well aware that the early development of
children is not only the enlightenment of intelligence, but also the comprehensive
cultivation of creativity, practicality, and sociality. The emergence of woodworking
maker spaces has opened up a new path for achieving this goal.
The birth of this book stems from the author’s more than ten years of practice
and reflection in scientific research work. As an educator deeply involved in the
field of preschool education, I always pay attention to how to stimulate children’s
inner potential through scientific and reasonable educational design. In 2015, I
first came into contact with the concept of “Woodworking Maker Space” and was
deeply attracted by its unique educational philosophy - it is not only a handicraft
activity, but also an interdisciplinary comprehensive learning experience. By
touching wood, operating tools, and designing works with their own hands,
children experience the joy of creation through real labor, and also learn to
persevere and innovate through failures and adjustments.
However, the promotion of woodworking maker spaces in kindergartens has
not been smooth sailing. In the early stages, many parents and teachers expressed
concerns about its safety, believing that sharp tools and complex craftsmanship were
not suitable for young children to participate in. To this end, I led a team to conduct
a five-year action research, gradually building a woodworking maker education
system suitable for children aged 3~6, from tool improvement, curriculum design
to safety management. We have found that when the environment and methods
are appropriate, woodworking activities can not only enhance children’s hand eye
coordination and spatial imagination, but also cultivate their patience, sense of