Respecting Children’s Ideas

Many times my ideas don’t turn out how I’d anticipated. The other day I found paint cards in storage (the ones you get at the hardware store that show what colors are available), and I wondered why I hadn’t used them, because they would be GREAT for the threes! Vibrant colors in manageable size that they can cut and use for collages.

I excitedly put them on a table with scissors, glue and paper, expecting gorgeous collages that I could display in the room.

One little guy decided to cut a card into little pieces. Great! Scissor skills!

If you notice in the first photo, his index finger was out, I’d given him the clothespin to practice squeezing to get the proper scissor motion. He then stuck in on the card and continued cutting. Did he make a collage? No, but he got a lot of scissor practice and was happy!

Then I noticed a trend.

The children were gluing the colors upside down so that the writing on the back was facing up! (THAT’S why I had so many left! Children did the same thing years ago!)

One little girl (who’s 3) took the white paper I’d assumed they use to put the pieces on and cut it very carefully, then got crayons to color.

“This is the Nintendo Switch I made from my brother. This button is for Mario, this one is for Star Wars. He’s going to love it!”

Did I collect them for display for Open House? No. These pieces of art were SO important for the children that they had to take them home!

My job is to encourage creative thinking and empower children to trust their own ideas. We provide opportunities to to develop the physical skills they need (such as hand strength) and allow them to express themselves, even though it may not be an adult’s idea of how things should be done. A little respect can make children feel so proud!