Child's Play

1. Grammar hard at 12:20am.
2. Don't fall out of folding chairs.
3. Don't procrastinate... it's not too fun.
4. Be in awe.

For the past week Friday mornings, I have been volunteering at a daycare. I was assigned to the toddler room and at first, I was slightly concerned that I would be working with 15 toddlers. I had never worked with a group of kids that age in a controlled environment. But, I went for it, and boy, was I in for something great.

I think I have read the same children's book about 25 times in the past three weeks. It's the same one: Dinosaur Roar! It pretty much goes like this, "Dinosaur roar, dinosaur squeak. Dinosaur fat, dinosaur skinny. Dinosaur clean, dinosaur slimy." It continues on like this for a few pages more. It really has no point, but the pictures are fairly colorful and it's cute to see the kids roar whenever it comes up. At first, I thought it was cute.

But then I read it 6 times in a row and it got fairly old. The same thing happened the next week, and then again the next time I came. Always the same book and always the same reactions from the kids. Just as I was about to chuck the book across the room, I thought, "Why can't you be like the kids and read the book like it is the first time?" It seemed that every time I read the book again to them, they got something else out of it. They look at the pictures and try to find something new or they point out something familiar. They are excited to show me the little bird in the corner of the page they found the first few times the book was read. They are in constant awe of the book.

And it isn't just the books they come at with new eyes every time. A man and his dog always pass by the window every time I am there. And every time, the kids run to the window and wave to the dog. The man and his dog haven't changed since the last time they saw them, but they still have the same reaction: one of wonder and awe.

Children follow by example and they imitate nearly everything they see. So why don't we reverse what happens and imitate them? Children are happy and don't worry about much. They see the world through different eyes; everything is something to explore and something to learn from. Everything is awe-inspiring.

So, why not have child's play? It seems to work for them. So why not us?

Peace!

-Nicole