I feel as though I should set up a little bit of a background for you before I jump right into this post. As a child I grew up in a very busy home, we always had people coming and going and I still to this day will tell you I would not have had it any other way. How was this you might ask? Well in my family there is myself and I have two younger siblings. On top of the busyness of having three kids my mom also ran a daycare out of our home. She still runs a daycare out of their home and I love every chance I have to go back and visit when the kids are going to be around. I do also love to go visit even when the kids are not around, thought I should mention that!
The reason I share this bit of background information with you is to set up a picture for the little story I am about to tell you. I had the opportunity to go home this past weekend and because I am lucky enough to not have classes on Fridays I was able to go home early on in the day. When I got home one of the little girls mentioned it was her mom’s birthday the next day so I said to her maybe we should make mom a birthday card? She seemed to think that was a great idea. The teacher in me right away started to think about how we could make these cards. I set out for Wal-Mart in search of birthday card making supplies. When I returned home we set out to make a birthday card and as many of you know kids are inherently curious. So not only did I have one child who wanted to make a birthday card but I had 6 more who also wanted to make cards. So the rest of them set off to make Happy Spring cards for their moms, dads, brothers and sisters.
I had bought some stickers and some paint pens and the kids were having a great time. Many of them wanted me to do their writing and they wanted to draw their pictures. As I was going around helping them with whatever they needed on of the kids who is in kindergarten asked me to come over and look at his card. He wanted to show me what he was drawing and so I asked him what a couple things were and what else he was going to draw. He replied “sometimes I just make a mark and see where it takes me,” I don’t know that I should have been shocked but I was just a little surprised that he made that comment and I thought it was so great that he was thinking so much about this card he was making and really letting his creativity come out.
Although this was not in a classroom setting I think it speaks volumes for the importance of allowing kids to be creative. More importantly, allowing them to be creative without the influences of others around them. I tried to take this situation and relate to an experience that I might have as a future educator . A found a great resource titled Creativity Killers that describes ways teachers can avoid deterring students away from being creative.
Think, Ask & Reflect 
Thanks for sharing this story, Nicole! One of the greatest joys of being a teacher is when kids say things that catch you off guard and remind you about what it means to make every moment count. I truly wish in my life that I could have the attitude of this child and think “I’ll just make a mark and see where it takes me”. So often we think and think until we make things more complicated and stressful than they need to be. Another quote that I thought sort of related from Alice in Wonderland is, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there”. In the uncertainty of this time where we are in a sense beginning a new chapter in our lives, I am trying to take this approach. I’m at the beginning of a journey, with many paths in front of me. I don’t know which door will be opened or which path I should take. I don’t know where my life will take me next month, or in the years to come. But what I do know, is that I’m on an exciting journey and staying open to many possibilities will surely take me to a great place!
Thanks again for sharing 🙂
That is such a great story. I do believe creativity is very important these days, it seems like many times people, culture and even media take away from the true creativity in everyone. They want their’s to be like so and so’s, but really it should be about what they want and how they want to do it. Creativity and arts have been a very important part of me today and growing up and one thing I would like for my future students to know and learn is how to be creative in their own way, with no one judging or influencing thier choices.