ABSTRACT
Five-year-old Benjie spent a long time transforming two empty, pint-size milk cartons into a truck. After carefully cutting, constructing, connecting, and painting the cartons, he worked on the wheels. He had cardboard disks with a center opening and repeatedly tried to create axles, but was reaching frustration level. His teacher appreciated the care and time that he had invested in the activity and asked him what methods he had tried. While explaining his various attempts, his facial muscles showed increasing tension. At that point, his teacher commented, “You certainly figured out a lot of building problems and thought of so0me creative ideas. I wonder if you looked at the brass fasteners.” He tried the fasteners and beamed when he was able to roll his truck, albeit somewhat unevenly.
