Talking Pictorially

Some food for thought here.  Something that Waldorf folks talk about when working with young children is talking to them pictorially.  Because young children are so imaginative, story telling and bringing what you say to life can be really effective in conveying your message/rule/thoughts to them.  Fairy tales that have already been written can be great resources, using characters that come to life for children and adapting their story to fit your needs is a great way to start.  But if you don't have an arsenal of fairy tales at the ready when you need them, you can also use your own imagination. If this all sounds a bit vague and confusing, I will give you an example of what I am talking about.

Yesterday, Axel and Asa were drawing with expensive rectangle beeswax crayons. The kind of crayons that we put away in a closet when not using. Axel is more interested in building with these crayons than actually drawing.  Which is fine with all of us, except that he often leaves them on the floor where they are apt to get stepped on, kicked under the couch, lost, etc. 

I asked Axel to please pick them up and put them away.  He said I'm too tired to right now, I will later.  I felt myself start to dig my heels in, and I said Axel, you need to put them away now or they might get kicked under the couch, stepped on or lost, and those are expensive special crayons that we use when Asa is working on...... I lost him after the first sentence.  He refused, ran away, laughed at his cleverness. And I felt frustrated and was ready to take it to the next level by making him pick them up.  How I was going to do that, I didn't know. 

Then it clicked. And I said:

Once upon a time there was a little turtle who had a pile of special rocks that he played with everyday.  He made beautiful castles out of these rocks, and even took the time to polish each and every one. He took good care of these rocks and made sure they were put away at the end of the day after he played with them.  

One day the little turtle had played so hard all day long, and was tired and hungry.  So he decided to leave the rocks on the ground outside his house, and would pick them up in the morning after he awoke.  

So the little turtle went to bed, and fell asleep quickly.  The next morning he awoke and stepped outside to gather his rocks.  But, when he stepped outside, his rocks were gone.  For the cleaning fairies had swept them up that evening, into their big dustpans and threw them away.  

The little turtle was sad that he lost his little rocks, and wished he had put them away before bed.

Axel looked at me, smiled, turned around and picked up every single crayon and put them away.  And, after that he and Asa got the little wooden turtle that Axel got in his Easter basket out, and started reenacting the story using cheerios as the rocks! Honestly I was a bit surprised that it worked. I have tried this before, and it hasn't worked. It takes practice to build up your storytelling skills so that you really engage the kids in what you are saying. I have launched into stories before that were completely ignored by the children.  Just like any skill, you have to practice it over and over, and soon you will see the transformation! 

Donna Simmons has a download-able talk about how to talk to your kids pictorially, and I found it quite helpful, it costs $14.  Also, a book I just got from Walking Stick Toys, called The Seven-Year-Old Wonder Book by Isabel Wyatt is an amazing reference for storytelling. If you haven't visited Walking Stick Toys yet, I encourage you to.  Erika (the owner) sells beautiful toys, craft supplies, books, clothing, etc.  It is located at 829 S Higgins. 

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!  We have our garden space and will be working on it in the next coming days! I will send out information about a work party soon.