I found this caption while scrolling through instagram and it struck me as something that's vital to understand when we as parents want to promote and cultivate our child's curiosity and imagination.
When my partner, our 6 year old, and I, moved from the USA to Mexico 2 months ago, I left a lot of homeschool supplies and books behind as the extra weight would've been too much to carry. So with only her Math curriculum, colors and couple of my daughters favorite books (also a suitcase full of her favorite toys) we ventured to Mexico with the intent to get everything we would need in Mexico.
After the initial acclimation of the move wore off, my daughter was getting restless and was looking for things to do. She wanted some new toys. We didn't want to get any more toys (she already had a suitcase full) until we are fully settled in our new home. So I suggested we make our own toys with what we had. I found some pink construction paper, a cereal box, one pen, and colors to work with.
She took the lead and rattled of a list of what she wanted. I started to feel like an employee at this point as she gave me specific instructions on how to do and what she wants it look like.
I started by drawing some small people. I couldn't find a scissors to cut out the small people in any of the bags we had packed (I guess it wasn't on the "important" list when we moved) but I found a knife and so very carefully I cut each little piece out and she colored it. The outcome wasn't so bad considering the edges were pretty jagged from cutting with a knife.
My daughter was thrilled!
I kept drawing and cutting out people and she colored them. She needed clothes that would fit on the people. All of sudden the our self-made Manager of the project (my daughter) turned into a fashion designer. I thought I was doing a fairly good job, but boy, did I get some rejections to my styles of clothes because they were not quite up to what she had in mind. I just went with the flow as she was really getting into it.
Next she decided her paper people needed a bed and furniture so the self-made manger of the project (my daughter) turned into a carpenter. Everything had to fit the size of the people. The bed couldn't be too big or small it had to be perfect. So we measured and schemed and measured again until the size was up to the standard.
At this point my hands were starting to hurt trying to cut with a knife, so my partner went on a hunt for a scissors (The area in Mexico had lots and lots of shops one after and other and you just never know what you are going to find). He was definitely my savior when he found one, as my fingers were getting calluses and cuts.
The project continued for several more days. Each day we would make something new. She wanted to create a hospital next. I found a cereal box and started drawing the maternity ward and she colored it.
It was a rough looking maternity ward but it didn't matter, my daughter was happy and proud of the accomplishments.
She would spend hours playing with her new paper toys. And I was happy mom because there was no more talk of buying a new toy, for now...
I didn't get a picture of everything we made and most of it ended up being pretty tattered.
Sometimes I am not sure who the student is, myself or my child. But I am learning that no matter the circumstance and the resources, children naturally have open minds and will be ready to create anything. All our role might be is to follow their lead and listen to their needs. Adopting a "less is more" attitude might eliminate a lot of stress, especially when it comes to big changes that are happening in our personal lives, in our case it was a moving to another country.