Creativity
One of the things that is highly entertaining and occasionally frustrating about raising my kids is; they do not use anything for its intended purpose.
Toys that are extremely limited in their use get turned into all kinds of things. One of Chava’s favorite ‘babies’ is a broom. Ian often makes “contraptions”, which can be made of pretty much anything, for pretty much anything. Their art projects go the same way; whatever I thought they were doing, it very quickly turns into something else. And then something else again.
The success of the project, or game, or day really hinges on whether I stick to my idea of what should be happening, or let the kids go and do their own thing. When we tried to make macaroni necklaces, I was irritated that they didn’t want to actually string the macaroni. Why? Because I wanted them to experience a different craft than we had done before, have some fun, use their creativity. But I wanted them to do it the right way. The way that ends in necklaces, not the way that ends in noodles buried in the sandbox.
Why does it matter? They didn’t care about the necklaces. They had fun digging up the noodles. They got to play outside, they were entertained.
At this point, when we get a new toy or start a new project, I expect it to turn out completely differently than intended. The funny thing is, no matter how much I know this, I still can’t predict what it is they will actually do. Life is continually interesting in this house.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
“One of the things that is highly entertaining and occasionally frustrating about raising my kids is; they do not use anything for its intended purpose.” – And that’s why Montessori is not for us.