Have you noticed that children are incredible individuals? They adapt and research their ways of doing things with others and/or themselves within these drastic changes in our society. It’s almost the end of 2021 and many things have changed in our society as you have noticed. Many things became flexible yet rigid as we live in the norms of today. And numerous ideas, routines, and thoughts will continue to change again and again, and children will bloom their curiosity and creativity within these changes.
Children are always growing
They are flexible. Children have the ability to find fun in the midst of things. It may be with peers or materials. They grow with love, care, and attention. As we, adults are busy cleaning, sanitizing, and worrying about this newness altering our dailyness, children find ways to get motivated and dig to find fun and joy.
Take washing hands as an example, children have their giggles and everlasting joy when washing their hands with their friends and teachers. Singing songs and following the choreography of washing hands make children see this procedure as play. It is a sensorial moment for them yet a critical learning platform. Their classes have also been broken up into smaller groups or cohorts in their schools. Yet they try to communicate across fields of gravel or sandpit to their next group. They purely find a way to have fun and learn through play even though obstacles are in their way.
How do we help children grow in the mist of things?
What is our role as an adult or educator? We would have to participate actively in this fun-ness. Start with asking or joining the first play with children. We should try our best to see the current world from their point of view and try to dig our childhood memory. Try not to ‘teach’ children, but to follow their lead as they are the new leader in the current childhood.
Not all children will let us join in. Our role may be to support the play to go further and deeper so they understand this moment is important to both individuals or groups. Giving meaning to their thoughts, ideas, and actions will boost confidence, curiosity, sense of self, and identity. All will truly bloom in this mist of things. All are here to give meaning to another flower that bloomed in the midst of 2021.