Project turns milk containers into cozy igloo
Students in Ami Morgan’s Grade 2/3 class at Nackawic Elementary completed a ‘cool’ project before school ended this year.
The class built an igloo out of milk containers. Morgan said it took over four months to collect all of the jugs. Students brought in the containers, and more were contributed by people in the community.
“I even had a lady from Hartland donate two big garbage bags full of milk containers. She had seen a post on Facebook about it,” said Morgan.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a few years,” she told the River Valley Sun.
After gathering 477 milk jugs, the real work began. Each container had to be thoroughly washed and dried. The igloo is glued together, and Morgan estimates she went through at least 200 large glue sticks. Morgan posted updates on her Facebook page as they worked on the igloo.
“It definitely took a lot more time than expected to wash, rinse, dry and glue all the jugs on,” she said.
She said her favourite part about building the igloo was watching the progress and doing some painting along the outside. The igloo has a ‘Maud Lewis’ theme. Lewis was a well-known Canadian artist from Nova Scotia who painted landscapes, animals and flowers. A black cat and several bright flowers can be seen on the side of the milk-jug structure. Inside the igloo are sensory stuffies, fidgets, cushions and a carpet. Mini lights finish it off by adding a calming aspect.
Morgan said some students begin their days in the igloo, using the structure as a quiet space. She said some students also prefer to write and read in the igloo.
“The kids love it. They will come in and relax. I even had a couple of parents in it,” said Morgan.
She said it’s a good place when a student needs some downtime. Morgan said lying down with the classroom overhead lighting off and the igloo’s mini lights with soft music playing is a mesmerizing experience.
The igloo build was part of a STEAM project. It incorporates lessons in science, technology, engineering, art and math. The students and their teacher planned how to build it, and while putting the igloo together, they made patterns with the different coloured jug caps. They also did math lessons such as counting by colour and estimating.
Students also learned about igloos, how they are built out of ice and what they are used for. Morgan said the students wanted to know how people stayed warm in an igloo and how they could have a fire in one. She mentioned the igloo warms up when they are in it.
Overall, the project was a hit with the students. Morgan said a school and community effort allowed it to happen.
