9am Wonder Arts: Chalk, Glue, Musical Instruments and Beautiful Stuff!!

I love the article in the Parade magazine in Sunday's paper. "The Lost Art of Building with Your Hands" by Mitch Albom

Here's a quote: "Normal people do not collect garbage." Of course I thought of our children building with the "Beautiful Stuff"... But the article explains how this 14 year old boy created a small windmill (from collected garbage) with enough energy to power one light bulb.

Mitch goes on to discuss his disappointment and concern regarding our children and the lack of imagination that goes into all of the current toys and electronics. How these toys do all the thinking for our children.

This article got me thinking about the upcoming summer months and how sometimes we as parents can run out of ideas or inspiration for our children. But I am a firm believer in children finding their own ideas and inspiration. If the TV is on, it will never happen! I don't like to make parents feel bad about TV because we all do it...but maybe we can remember the Oompa-Loompa Song from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory":

"The most important thing we've learned,

so far as children are concerned,

Is never, never, NEVER let

them near your Television set-

or better still,just don't install

the idiotic thing at all.

They sit and stare and stare and sit

until they're hypnotized by it,

until they're absolutely drunk

with all that socking ghastly junk.

Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,

they don't climb out the window sill,

they never fight or kick or punch,

they leave you free to cook the lunch

and wash the dishes in the sink-

but did you ever stop to think

to wonder just exactly what

this does to your beloved tot?

It rots the senses in the head!

IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!

It clogs and clutters up the mind!

It makes a child so dull and blind

He can no longer understand

a fantasy, a fairyland!

His brain becomes as soft as cheese!

His powers of thinking rust and freeze!

He cannot think-he only sees!

Written by Ronald Dahl 1964!!

Creating with found materials (or reusable materials) takes a retraining of the eye (for adults). If you sit with your child and treat them carefully and voice aloud the beauty you see in them, then your children will too (although most of the time, children already have these eyes!).

So often I hear from adults, "What do we do here?" "What should my child do?" Meanwhile, the child is busily working away with the material. I say to adults many times, Your child will teach you what to do. Let them show you. If you sit with your child and follow their lead you will see with new eyes!



H. came along, looked at the lids, and then began to throw some on the floor. Mom stepped in and said, "H. keep them on the table, please don't throw them on the floor." (Or something along those lines :) (I appreciated her gentle suggestion to him since I didn't want all the lids stepped on and destroyed!) He began to walk away, ready to move onto something else.

I heard the exchange, saw the loss of interest afterwards and thought it might be interesting to see what would happen if we was offered a bucket for him to throw the lids into. Mom agreed with the idea and suggested it to him.

This directed his interest back immediately to his former idea.

He spent probably 10 - 15 minutes (maybe even longer) choosing lids, throwing them into the bucket. It became a social collaborative when other children came along, understood his idea, and began handing him lids to throw in or they threw lids into the bucket themselves.

Exploring the lids this way allowed him to pay close attention to each lid noticing each ones distinctive characteristics. He even found the lid of a chap stick (that another child was using), threw it into the pile, but then recognized that it didn't belong and sought out the owner.

If H. could have been redirected to using the lids on the table, I wouldn't have intervened. But seeing that he had a particular need to explore the lids in this way, I wondered how I could allow him to investigate his theories but still respect the materials.

Most important question of a Reggio-Inspired teacher (or parent) to each child: "What do you need? I'll help you get it."

Every time, I get the dolls or animals out to do a story for the children, I am thrilled by their willingness to sit, listen, and be captivated by a story. You can see the joy in their faces and I find it a wonderful way to reach each child!