STEAMing up our Minds with Brain Bins

School:: Sabal Palm Elementary
Subject:: Stem
Teacher:: Wendy Frields
Students Impacted:: 18
Grade:: 1
Date:: August 11, 2019

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

Suncoast Credit Union Foundation - $331.30

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 20

My students begin each day with a bin of materials designed to allow time for unstructured inquiry, imaginative play, and the opportunity to develop social competency. Brain bins are used in my first grade classroom for the first 10 minutes of the day. Brain bins help students wake up, warm up, and get their brains ready and engaged for a successful day of learning. Brain bins are filled with materials that foster and strengthen imagination, creativity, oral language, critical thinking, problem solving, and curiosity. When my students enter the classroom, they are excited to see which brain bin is waiting for them at their table!

grant photo

Original Grant Overview

Goal

Over my years as an educator, I know how critical it is in making sure every student enters my classroom and begins their day with a positive approach, ready to learn. Through the use of 'brain bins', students will begin each day with a bin of materials designed to allow time for unstructured inquiry, imaginative play, and the opportunity to develop social competency. The bins will include open ended materials which will ultimately provide students with time to explore, create and build. My goal is students will enter my classroom every morning excited to wake up, warm up, and be ready to THINK! Additionally, my goal is to see the level of creative thinking for each of my students continuously climb throughout the year.

What will be done with my students

Brain bins will be used as daily morning tubs in my first grade classroom. They will include open ended materials that students will use to explore, create, and build during the first 10 minutes of the day. Brain bin time will be incorporated into our daily routine, geared towards setting a happy tone for our day. It will help students wake up, warm up and get their brains ready and engaged for a successful day of learning. Bins will be rotated daily and and materials will be monitored to make sure students are using them in new, innovative and creative ways each time they get out a tub.

Benefits to my students

According to a study completed in 2010 by IBM Global, more than 1,500 CEOs cited creativity as the most sought after quality in an employee. By engaging my 6 year old students with time every morning to explore, create, and build, I am fostering their development of valuable skills that will eventually prepare them to become successful individuals. Brain bins will be filled with materials which will ultimately foster and strengthen skills such as imagination, creativity, oral language, critical thinking, problem solving, and curiosity. I love that all my students will begin their day on a happy note full of creative thoughts and energy!

Budget Narrative

The budgeted items include 12 different brain bin activities along with a 12 count of storage bins to hold all materials. All items are purchased through amazon.com

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	Sterilite 6 quart storage boxes (12 pack)	$25.69
2	Melissa and Doug Cut Sculpt and Roll play set	$13.49
3	Kinetic Sand	$19.67
4	Viahart Brain Flakes (500 count)	$14.98
5	Fat Brain Toys Dado Squares	$22.95
6	Verdes Foam peg blocks	$39.65
7	play-doh modeling	$7.99
8	Fat Brain Toys Squigz starter set (24 pieces)	$24.95
9	Magformers Rainbow (50 count)	$68.28
10	Ozziko Drawing Stencils	$19.99
11	NSC Caterpillar Building Blocks	$14.95
12	Straw Constructor STEM Building Toys	$19.09
13	Joyin Play-Act Counting/Sorting Bears	$17.95
14	Sales Tax	$21.67
	Total:	$331.30

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