LifePeaces.com

Think of a child playing in a sand box or on a beach. Watch carefully.

At first the child may roam about freely or aimlessly. At any given moment, a focus begins to unfold. Perhaps this child finds a shell. The child picks up the shell and begins to look at it.

From there, perhaps the child looks for more shells or decides to make use of the shell in some way by using it to dig in the sand. Perhaps if more shells are collected, they are used to create a design or pattern.

The point here is that now there is a focus, and the whole experience of play now has some sort of purposes. When the play began, it was open to any possibility. Now, though, there is a purpose of focus to the play.

And now, as the focus becomes more involved, something is created, or the mere activity begins to develop an understanding. If the child is gathering shells, perhaps there is a natural understanding that occurs which reveals that each piece (or shell) is different and each one has a unique character. If the child is using the shell as a tool, perhaps there is an understanding that evolves around help – the shell helps to dig a hole or build a pile of sand that can be made into something. Perhaps there is an understanding that evolves which helps the child to understand the limits of a shell’s capacity to achieve a thing.

So…all this to say — what if, instead of folding the laundry, it becomes an exercise in play. How is the experience different? What activity can you change by considering play, rather than routine? Please share, if you’d like.