From the beginning, we faced the very important safety issues. We have come to better understand and appreciate complaints made by builders and manufacturers about safety regulations and how they add time and cost to things we equally understand and appreciate the importance and need to abide by such rules. For us, we came to believe that making blocks can be extremely aggravating and time consuming, especially when doing the work by hand. This was primarily because we wanted to ensure our blocks would be safe for children, so we sanded down all of the edges carefully and repeatedly, to try to get the block surfaces as even and as rounded as possible. In fact, although we did not record the breakdown of how our time was spent on which tasks, it is probable that sanding was more than over half the total hours we spent on our project. It all had to be well sanded to avoid splinters and sharp edges.
Then, too, "human" factors also played a significant role in our delays. Four strong-willed, Bronx Science students, each with their own ideas and opinions, made for many productive (and too many not productive) discussions, all of which consumed far too much of our limited time, often delaying progress. Even before we really got down to work and debated about materials and methods, the very subject matter of our project had not been resolved, let alone the make up of our group.
Originally, Janet and Joshua were going to work with Michael to make a plane. However, upon further consideration, they decided they would prefer more involvement with the project, "hands on" and otherwise, so they decided to make a fan using an old Capsella kit that Joshua had lying around the house. Then Hannah asked the two if they wanted to help her make a doll house to give to North Central Bronx Hospital in the Bronx. Only after they agreed to help with that project did they learn from the North Central Bronx Hospital that, since it deals primarily with toddlers, the small parts of the doll house would be a choking hazard. More time was lost before the three joined with Desiree to work on this project.
We decided to do something that deals with adapting technology to make sure it is safe, enjoyable, as well as being a great learning experience for the children who will use the completed items. Blocks help to teach sorting, organizing balance, design, geometry and these kinds of skills form the basis of many engineering principles. Additionally, since we intended on adding letters to the blocks they may help them in learning the alphabet and/or reading.
Certainly, while the project is not as yet completed because of the factors above, we realize that we were well on our way in making the kind of "gifts" to inspire the interest and imagination of children in the spirit of the creator of Kindergarten, Fredrich Froebel. It was for that reason we chose to make these blocks, and to that extent we achieved our goal successfully. Though time will be tight, we have great hopes that we will be finished with everything left to do by the end of school.