The second room I visited was a workshop where children were building something that resembled a cross, although a I was reassured very convincingly by a 4-year old that it was in fact an airplane. The children were given a safety briefing about how they must clamp their piece of wood down and that they must wear safety goggles. One of the children started explaining how that if they use nuts and bolts they don’t need a drill and that they should do it his way. I saw this as an expression of the child’s initiative, he wanted everyone to try his idea.

In the other rooms I visited, autonomy was more of a struggle for the children. The children wanted to run around and do their own thing, or they wanted to paste the pieces of squares on the picture in straight lines rather than in a wave-like fashion. However, in this room, the child’s autonomy was a preexisting condition and they had a greater opportunity to try things out. Aside from the initial briefing, and some occasional help, the children where able to make their crosses/planes on their own.

The thing that captured the children’s attention the most was the strange rotatory motion of the drill. They all knew the correct way to turn the drill, but just for the fun of it they would do it the correct way and then try the reverse just to see what would happen. Finally, when the planes were done, the children were given an opportunity to color their planes with a sharpie. It was at this stage the children showcased their industry, colored their planes and tried to get the children’s attention.