Hospitality

“Cody! Come here; I made you some food!” -OP

When we are in the backyard, one of the children’s favorite activities is to make various creations ranging from strawberry pie to sushi to pizza.  It’s all on the menu, but the menu is always changing.  So whenever I see a child walking up with a metal container of sticks and mud, I’m not always sure what to anticipate.  In that spirit, I usually wait for the child to tell me what the thing is and how I should eat it.  

In the meal before you now, OP  had offered me soup, coffee, cake, and juice. Now comes the hard part: figuring out what she wants me to do with it.  Does she expect me to pretend to eat and drink this food, and if so, do I need to pretend to eat all of it?  

But looking at the picture again now I am wondering about something else.  What if OP simply wants to give me something?  She offers, extends, and with this gesture OP receives me, as a host receives a guest.  I wonder if there are times when the children are offering their creations to adults that they are employing/making meaning of hospitality.  Maybe that’s something they’ve watched their parent(s) do.  Maybe it comes intuitively.  Probably both.  

While considering this, I begin to wonder about other ways children are always offering/investigating hospitality.  I think about the way their bodies negotiate such close proximity with one another all day long.  I think about their negotiation of the materials they love and share with their classmates.  I think about their inclusion of one another in pretend play and when making art.  Or even the times that they comfort one of their friends. All of it is an extension of themselves to the other, as they welcome the other.

I’m also reminded of the times that I make mistakes as an adult and the children respond with hospitality.  Or how they love to help clean, to bring me my water bottle, or say, “Look what I made for you!”  Yes, there are times each day when children make room for adults’ mistakes, impatience, absences etc., times that are seemingly obscure and often go unnoticed.  The reality is that adults are often busy, tired, depressed, or distracted and allowances 

have to be made on our behalf.  

As always, I do not want to romanticize the behavior of children.  They are not always welcoming or hospitable, as you well know.  Oftentimes they do something, need something, or create something that requires the hospitality of others, especially their family.  But to leave our understanding of their efforts there is to miss all the ways they extend themselves to make room.  To leave it there, means we may become ignorant to all the ways they are learning to welcome, to host, and to love.  

So, let’s make room for all of the motivations of children.  Let’s continue to be curious with them and all of their idiosyncrasies.  Let’s continue to welcome them, as they welcome us, and we welcome one another.   

Processes of Painting

Paint.  We love it.  In fact, “I want to paint!”  is one of the most commonly heard phrases at the Preschool House, even while so many other enticing phrases fill our day!  Joking aside, we use paint several times each day, most often at the children’s request.  There are, of course, reasons for this.  And while those reasons may vary among the Tumbleweed Preschoolers, it’s worth considering at least a few of them to take a closer look at this artistic medium that the kids so enjoy!  

Agentic Capacity

For those of you who read anything I write, you will probably guess that what I value most about paint is its capacity for exploration and creation, especially that which gouges societal values placed on what is “good” and/or “beautiful.”  It stretches the boundaries of these perceptions because of its sensorial and aesthetic qualities, qualities which are hard to replicate with a washable marker or even a pencil. What I mean is that unlike these more precise writing/drawing instruments, paint and paint brushes allow for a more abstract process, one that is less product focused and more process focused.  For example, in the picture below, the first thing that OP and CKP did was to gather some paint with their brush and to practice making brush strokes, noticing the texture and hue of the paint, while also taking note of the particular brush marks their utensils create.  Similarly, in the picture of CKP and HR, they each first mixed water together with the dry power to make the paint before using the material to create.  In this way, the entire process is more about the material itself and the child’s relationship to that material than it is about some predetermined pictorial outcome.  

Opportunity for Connection

Simultaneous to the childrens’ agentic relationship with the paint is their relationship to one another.  While they choose what/how/where they paint, they have a shared value which is the material and process of painting itself.  As in most relationships, this shared value serves as a point of connection, while the differences in how this value is manifested serves as a point of provocation.  In other words, they have divergent ideas about their shared value(s).  As they enjoy the comfort of one another’s company, they are challenged by one another’s perspectives.  

Sensory Benefits 

This picture of CS and JA at the top of the post is also an example of the relational aspect of paint.  However, instead of painting alongside one another, they took turns, cleaning the various materials that they used over the course of their artistic processes.  In the midst of this, each of them were exploring the sensorial properties of the paint, especially in its relationship to the feeling of soap and water.  Not only that, many children receive tactile sensory input from this process, which aids in their mental/emotional regulation.  This is not always the case, as other children may feel overwhelmed by this sensory experience and become dysregulated because of it.  Whatever the case is, what is important is that we are following the children's lead.  If they are spending a long time with the paint/soap/water and it seems to be a calming experience for them, then their bodies probably need it.  However, if the child is adverse to those feelings and/or is becoming more agitated by the experience, then it is most likely a dysregulating experience.  The child’s body knows what it does/doesn’t need, and most of the time all we have to do is watch their relationship with the material(s) unfold.  

But paint doesn’t necessarily need soap and water to feel good.  On the day that TH and OS painted their hands, they spent more than 30 minutes carefully painting their hands, washing their hands, painting them again, washing again, etc.  When they decided to transition from their paper to this, I was a little hesitant, but then I remembered that their bodies knew more about what they needed than I did.  And thus, the tactile play continued on, and needless to say, TH and OS were thrilled.  

There are certainly more aspects of painting, our relationship to it, and its derived benefits that have not been touched on here.  What is important for us to remember is that this material, this beautiful, messy, “feel good” material, is more than capable of offering the children a variety of experiences that are apt for agentic creativity, connection, and sensory input.  These are reasons why so many of the children herald, “I want to paint!,” and we are grateful for it!