THE ABSENCE OF MATERIALS
Every day I walk by the school playground and I look at this empty sandbox. I think, “What should we put in here?” We have tried a few different things, and whatever we add eventually disappears. It goes home in the pockets and shoes of students, or it is carried away by wind and rain, and then we are once again left with the empty box.
And once again, these amazing little humans show me what happens in the empty sandbox. To them it is not empty. It is full! Full of space to create, to rest, to think, and to wonder. Even as I took the photo of the sandbox a student walked by and I asked them, "What should we put in this box?" She looked at me and smiled and said, "Nothing, we don't want it too full!"
"Too full?" I questioned her and wondered.
"Yeah," she said, and as she ran off she yelled, "We need space to play!"
It is an "idea space" waiting for their creative thoughts to be developed. It is calling to the imagination of the children's minds.
So as I walked by and a student blew a pretend whistle and told her classmate to swim, I smiled. They explained to me, "We are at swim lessons, I am the swim teacher!" Those little humans make me smile every day when I learn from them! This sand box was not empty at all. It was inviting them to create, to think, and to play - alone and with their friends. I almost took that opportunity from them. So while I berated myself for not filling this box quickly enough, they also reinforced the power of the pause. Watching, observing and giving time before jumping into an idea or filling a space can have great value.
Sometimes I feel this way about our classrooms…some have too much “stuff” and some have too little. As we explore our environments to create the most interesting and inviting classes for our students, where have we left space for ideas to grow?
How do you feel when you see a class that has “less than” another class? Do we see the power of less? In school and in our homes?
This sand box became a pool for swim lessons to begin! What else will this amazing box become for our children? I will continue to push back on my own desire to fill the box and to change the story in my mind so that I don't see an empty space and instead see a space for ideas, imagination, and children to soar!
This month in our staff meetings we wondered together how the classroom materials drive the curriculum in ways WE want, rather than allow space for children's own ideas to grow. We thought about how our materials reinforce cultural norms. We asked, “What is in our classroom that invites the children to expand their thoughts and ideas? What should we have less of? What should we have more of and what might be missing?” We pondered what we want our materials to say to children. Together we are observing our students to continue to learn with them and from them!
P.S. Swim lessons are now available in the box…you just have to imagine the water!
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