"Can I Be a Robot?"

One day a few months ago, S approached me and said, "Mommy, can I be a robot?" I'm not entirely sure what sparked his question, although it might be the robotic mop we have (that we affectionately refer to as Data). S is both fascinated by and a little nervous about robots! We play about them a lot here. He asks me all the time to draw robots and loves to use building toys and manipulatives to create his own. In conjunction with our Story Stretchers Play at Home Camp, I picked out some great children's books with a robot theme and placed some related additions to our play area for this week.

Robots are fascinating to children (and adults) of all ages. Our kids are growing up in such an amazing age of technology. They are surrounded every day at home and away by magnificent machines and computers doing things that science fiction writers once only dreamed about. While we spend a lot of time trying to lure children away from the screens that surround our lives, it's also great to build skills around computer literacy at an age appropriate level and to work with interests in technology so our children can cultivate their natural fascination with these devices. STEM activities have since entered classrooms, homeschools and playrooms. While some of our story stretcher themes this summer involve more structured play activities with a specific target book, this week's theme will be more play based and child led. Here's a great reading list of our favorite robot themed books to accompany a week of process art, building, science, math & geometry activities, recycled art and, of course, play!

Recommended Reading on ROBOTS

Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Dan Yaccarino tells the story of a little boy and a robot with a little misunderstanding...

Spare Parts by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley is a sweet tale of friendship between two robots

Robots Everywhere by Denny Nebson, Illustrations by Todd Hoffman has fabulous pictures and a simple, rhyming story line that follows robots all around town doing all kinds of interesting things...

Robo-sauce by Adam Rubin with pictures by Daniel Salmieri is an imaginative story of a boy who discovers a secret potion to turn humans into robots

Hello, Robots by Bob Staake follows the busy world of four robots, Blink, Zinc, Blip and Zip--a hard working crew who can be stopped by nothing, except maybe rain!

Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep! by Todd Tarpley is a cute bedtime story of a little boy trying to get his three wakeful robots to Go To Sleep!

Doug Unplugs on the Farm by Dan Yaccarino is another great robotic tale by this author about a city bot and his experience on a farm!

If I Had a Robot by Dan Yaccarino captures the wishful world of a boy who imagines how a robot could solve all of his most challenging problems--like eating vegetables or handling playground politics

When it comes to playing about robots, you don't need a lot of special materials. You may wish to include some of the following:

• Building toys and manipulatives that you already have are great for building/creating robots. You may wish to use blocks, Legos/Duplos/megablocks, Magnetiles, gears, poppoids or other such toys for robot building.

Coloring on shiny foil got us in the robot spirit

as we began our week! We will be using this

artwork in a future art activity...

• Recycled materials like cardboard tubes, foam, plastic containers, cups and bowls, tin foil and boxes in a variety of sizes can make for some great recycled art and building about robots. Collect and set out your own along with tape/glue and art materials of your choice in an invitation to create a robot! You can create artwork with a variety of mediums and in a variety of sizes as well. Larger boxes and items can create bigger sculptures or even a robot costume...

• shiny loose parts like metalic pipecleaners, silver/gold beads, paperclips, nuts, buttons, google eyes and anything else shiny and fun you can think of make for great add-ons to playdough and clay creations

I included a blob of Crayola Model Magic clay combined with silver glitter for this art lab to create a robot. You can do the same with playdough, however Model Magic will dry and harden for a permanent robot sculpture. I was inspired for this activity by this post at Fantastic Fun and Learning!

• For some great process art, you might want to include tin foil, metallic paper (I love origami paper for this purpose), colorful buttons, sequins, plastic gems, google eyes, glue and construction paper to set up your invitation to create a robot collage...

Our robot art lab has been a repeat attraction--even  Mommy & Tatty have had some fun with it!

• Magnets in a variety of shapes and sizes can make for some great science observations and sensory play with a robotic flare. We will be experimenting with and exploring magnets later this week...stay tuned!
• We also like to set up areas for vertical work with art materials. I often set up a piece of easel paper low on a door/wall for S to use with markers/crayons, stickers, etc., sometimes with a prompt and sometimes without. This week, he will have a lot of fun doodling and sticking stickers about robots!

Speaking of prompts, a simple journal prompt like this can turn dramatic play into a great story to look back on later. S loves to pretend about being a robot--it will be exciting to see where his story and illustrations take the experience!

We also love this free printable robot shape puzzle and these free printable mix and match robot blocks! 

We'll be back with more robot-themed fun and until then...

Happy Playing!