Treasure Maps and Race Cars

I'll be honest, sometimes teaching is a bit discouraging.  This week I saw a pretty mean side to many of my students and it left me nearly speechless.  I came face to face with a brand of bullying that I thought couldn't possibly exist in first grade, and coming out of the mouth of a seven-year-old made me not only sad but angry as well.

So after a trying week with first graders I was excited to get to babysit some of my favorite kids in the world, my neighbors Isaac and Aaron.  They are three and four, and every time we get together we have a blast.  And it's refreshing to hang out with kids who are respectful and willing to actually follow rules.  These two have a lot to teach my first graders!  Not only are the boys polite but they have really active imaginations as well.

One of our favorite things to do when I babysit is go on treasure hunts.  We busted out the art supplies and made some pretty awesome treasure maps.  I even taught them how to wrinkle them up so they would look old.  Once our maps were finished, the living room became a dry dessert, and a pit of vipers; the couch was a tall mountain to climb.  The hallway became a deep ravine and our only way across was a rickety bridge.  We made our way through the dark forest of the dining room, making sure not to wake the forest monster (the dog.)  Finally we splashed through the lake which had puddled up in the kitchen.  After dodging the many dangers, we found the treasure, a tiny green race car.  The boys would then take turns hiding it for the rest of us to find.  This went on for a long time and the kids never really tired of the game.

There's something about imaginative play that is so special for children.  These boys especially are good at letting their minds take them to spectacular places, and it's fun to get to tag along.  Sadly, the element of imagination has been lost for so many kids with the increased use of video games and TV.  It breaks my heart to come back to school on Mondays asking the students what they did over the weekend only to discover that they never tore themselves away from the TV or computer screen.

So after a disheartening week at work with children who, rather than diving into imaginative play together fight and call each other names, it was refreshing to spend time with kids who still know how to have fun!  Thankfully they have awesome parents who take the time to play with them and encourage them in their imaginative play.  I hope that someday I can be a parent like that.  I can't wait to go on treasure hunts with my own kids someday!