In addition to doing yoga with the children, Emmy, Zack and I were finally able to do the art project with the children we had initially planned on last week. Hand and finger painting. Emmy works as a preschool teacher in California and this is something she’s done before with her kids.
She created all these beautiful examples for the kids of a crocodile, giraffe, peacock, giving them something to work towards.
But ultimately with the kids, it’s not the end product that matters-it’s the creative process. How much of themselves they put into a project, their determination, their curiosity, how much they enjoyed themselves…
Some of the children were intent on trying to copy Emmy’s paintings, the giraffe was very popular, and some of the children did completely their own thing. I loved getting the chance to encourage all of them, whatever they decided to try creating and being able to see what they came up with.
We simply wanted to create a safe place where we could foster and encourage their creativity.
And in the evening we returned to help the children with their lessons. But before lessons begin the children always meditate, something I wish more teachers would try incorporating into their classroom. It gives them time to focus their minds, to ease the stress of a long day, to simply shut out external stimuli and focus on their breath. I'll never get tired of seeing this every night.