Create scientific toys at low cost
Building toys from paper, drinking straws and basic materials.
THERE was no child’s play when Unizul Science Centre held a workshop introducing staff from science centres across the province to the use of everyday materials to create scientific toys in Richards Bay recently.
The workshop was facilitated by Japanese science specialist of Osizweni Education and Development Centre in Secunda, Hideo Nakano, a volunteer under the Japanese International Cooperation Agency programme.
He introduced locally available inexpensive science and maths educational materials to science centre facilitators, including staff and interns at Unizul Science Centre, Durban Natural Science Museum, Isibusiso Esihle Science Discovery Centre, KZN Science Centre, Training and Resources in Early Education(TREE) and Zululand Career Centre.
They were shown how to design and conduct science activities using limited tools and materials and build toys from paper and drinking straws as basic materials. They created paper windmills, rotor copters, straw polyhedrons, paper blade helicopters and straw cars.
The Department of Science and Technology and the Japanese government entered into this collaboration several years ago and the initiative has been beneficial to science centres in the country as Nakano is on a volunteer mission in SA for two years.
