Core Skills Analysis
Applied Design Skills Technology
Lily created a bee maze, which showed early applied design skills as she planned a path for the bee to follow. She learned how to organize an idea into a simple structure, using design thinking to make the maze fun and solvable. By creating the maze, Lily practiced problem-solving and learned that technology and design can be used to build interactive activities. This activity also gave her experience with making careful choices about where a path should go and how the design should work for someone else.
Tips
To build on Lily’s bee maze, she could try making a second maze with a different theme, such as a butterfly garden or a caterpillar path, to compare how design choices change the challenge. She could also test her maze by tracing the route herself and then revising it if the path feels too easy or too hard, which helps her learn about improving designs through experimentation. A drawing activity could invite her to add flowers, hives, or arrows to make the maze more visually clear and interesting. For a simple extension, an adult could ask Lily to explain how she decided where the bee should start and finish, helping her think more intentionally about her design process.
Book Recommendations
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle: A classic picture book that connects well to garden and insect-themed creative activities.
- Bee & Me by Elle J. McGuinness: A gentle story about bees that pairs nicely with hands-on bee-themed learning.
- The Book of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd: An engaging bee-themed book that can inspire more nature-based design and curiosity.
Try This Next
- Draw a simple map showing the bee’s starting point, ending point, and the path through the maze.
- Create 2 quiz questions: Where did Lily guide the bee? What made the maze a design activity?
- Worksheet idea: trace the maze path with a pencil, then circle any spots that look tricky.