Play with me!!
If you’re around small children, you know this phrase all too well. And sometime there’s a legitimate reason we say no.
“Sorry kiddo, I’m in the middle of a Zoom meeting.” “I have to focus on the traffic but we can play after we get home.” “I need to get someone else started with their homework and then you’re next.”
But then when the distraction is gone, another block can arise keeping us from truly engaging. And that block is a voice in our head.
Check out an article I co-wrote with Alexa Maille (with support from Becky Tapley and the team at the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance) for The Genius of Play.
In it, we talk about the voice that:
• warns some people against doing an engineering activity with a child because they’re not an engineer.
• expects the child is going to love (fill in the blank activity) because I loved (fill in the blank activity) a child
• wants to take over when the child struggles and wants to quit.
• sees the child doing it “the wrong way” with their blatant disregard for the instruction book.
With all of these voices, we encourage readers to use the power of the pause. It’s about thinking more deeply about WHY you’re responding the way you are and letting children make their own discoveries.
Because beneath the pause is a growing foundation of trust.
“Trust that you can interrogate your feelings and tendencies before you join the play, entering as a collaborator rather than a commander. Trust that your child will be interested if given the space to make the experience their own. Trust that, with ample time to explore and encouragement in the exploration process, they will find the deeper answer to questions and will bounce back from mistakes.”
So, as an official play expert (photographic proof of this designation below), I encourage you to just let the children (AND yourself) play.
Which of these voices sound most like the voice in your head?
Part 2 of this article series offers 4 Questions that Transform Playtime into Discovery and Invention Time (and help deepen your relationship with your child)
