Monday, April 1, 2013

Inventing Games

The privilege of parenting is that you get to watch the amazing process of young people growing up.  Each stage is so delightful and especially in the early childhood years when change seems to occur daily.  On Saturday I had the delight of getting to watch just one of my four year old boys playing in the backyard with me, while his twin brother had the more urban adventure of a walk with his dad to the park.  

In anycase, S was ready to play in the peace and safety of our own backyard.  In fact as soon as we got back there he started to pick up his play from where he had left it-- Was it hours or days before? He had a plastic planting bucket that was for his fish and a stick and he was using for fishing. Soon he was giving me fresh cooked salmon. 

Minutes later after we had eaten he was ready to play some games; which he has just started to invent. In this case he used a ball, a plant carrying flat and a plastic scoop catcher's net.  He started to think about how to get the ball to land in the "flat", but first it had to bounce over a stick.  He would try it one way and then try it another way.  Then he would feel success!  He always was checking to see if I was watching- even though I was also pulling weeds.    

I was amazed at how he is refining his coordination, coming up with a system of rules,  and creatively using objects that all had a different uses than what he was using them.  

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