A friend of mine, who follows my blog, told me about her experience in teaching a Clay class to children ages 3 - 6. On the first day of the class, she set the clay out for the children and invited them to "play" with it. She was very surprised to see that they did not know how to just "play" around with it. They kept insisting that they wanted to "make" something and they wanted her to show them what to do.These children, who some of them are only a year older than the little ones that participate in my classes, have already been conditioned to make a "product" to show others. This saddens me so deeply because I fear for the future of our world when children no longer know how to "play".
If children always wait for adults to tell them what to do, how to do it, where to do it, etc... How will these children feel confident enough to generate NEW ideas, express their own individual feelings?
While I believe an adult is obviously critical to a child's healthy development and learning...I also believe we have a great power and responsibility with children. We are in a position of either imposing our ideas (which may be limited) or creating a dialogue with children to discover what ideas they might hold and it is our duty to help them communicate that.
In her book, Tumbling Over the Edge, by Bev Bos, she states:
"There is a time for expanding the world of art for children with the help of docents, artists, craftsmen and such, but we need to take care we do not get things out of order. Refinement and Technique must wait their turn." p.73
Play Stages:
Solitary
Parallel
Onlooker
Associative
Cooperative
Tumbling Over the Edge p.66
Solitary:
The child focuses on every stimulus that surrounds them. Not deflected from his/her endeavor. He/she explores properties of stimulus but plays alone.
Tumbling Over the Edge p.66
Onlooker:
Sometimes a child is perfectly satisfied just to watch others paint, dig, pour, dance, and sing. This ONLOOKER stage is one adults have a hard time respecting. The tendency is to cajole, encourage (or pester) the child into participating rather than allowing them to observe from the periphery.
Tumbling Over the Edge p.66
Parallel Play: With enough Materials available, the inquisitive young child plays PARALLEL to other children often without realizing others have entered their space.
Tumbling Over the Edge p.66
Associative:
The children engage in the same activity as others but without much interaction.
Tumbling Over the Edge p.66
Beautiful Stuff
"To a young child, the world is full of materials to touch, discover, and explore. To find, collect, sort, and use materials is to embark on a special kind of adventure. For adults, gathering materials means rediscovering the richness and beauty in natural, unexpected, and recyclable objects that are all around us, but often not noticed.
One way to rediscover our own creative impulses is to see possibilities in materials.
Children possess a natural openness to the potential of materials. Children and adults become collaborators as they discover, collect, sort, arrange, experiment, create, construct, and think with materials. The goal is to allow children to become fluent with materials-as if materials were a language."
Beautiful Stuff by Cathy Weisman Topal and Lella Gandini
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