As expected, this news was received with a lot of enthusiasm and confusion : how will we play with our feet, my legs will get dirty, what about our shoes and socks, and so on were some of the both expressed and unexpressed questions that arose.
They all wore their shoes, carried their water bottles and stood in a line, all geared up and excited about their new game and marched upstairs to the song ‘We are going up the stairs’. After reaching the top, they all removed their shoes and kept them below the table where they usually keep their water bottles.
Some of them then enthusiastically stared at the sandpit wondering how to jump in and play with only their feet while some of them just went for it and started moving their feet around feeling the sand. A few splashed the sand around with their feet and others tried digging the sand with their feet and hands, and needed constant reminder to use only their feet.
While all this play went on, two of them refused to join their friends, where one said, “My legs will get dirty ma’am. I don’t want to play.” When he was told that he can even go play with his footwear, unwillingly we walked to the sandpit, jumped in for the sake of it and ran out, and the second child said,”This is boring. I don’t want to play”, and marched off to the corner, passing comments at others expecting them to join him. After a while both the children who refused to play in the sandpit joined to play ‘Robot Robot’ by themselves and were left to play in their robot world.
On the other side in the sandpit, there was a little exploration that was happening,
” The sand is so soft. It’s also wet!”, said K with a lot of curiosity, digging the sand and finding his feet wet when they touched the wet sand underneath the dry sand.
S: “You put water and it will melt and go down down down. That’s why sand is wet.”
H: “Ya. There’s water. Rain came.”
While this discussion was going on, T came in and was asked to remove her shoes and jump in. But she seemed confused. The confusion was broken by An who called out, “But she can’t remove her socks. She’s wearing sock pants!” She was suggested that she could use her hands if she wanted, but she just wanted to stand and watch her friends play.
By then it was already time up for the play to be wound up. They all then happily washed their feet, hands, wore their shoes and marched back down to their class with a lot of memories to carry forth.
When was the last time you truly played with something and let go of your inhibitions, and let your inner child out? What did you learn from that little play?
Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz.