It’ll too elementary for them, the director told me ahead of time. I get that. I’m sure a whole lecture on child’s play sounded too simple on paper.
While often dismissed as “just fun,” play is the vital activity that children use to learn about and interact with their world…
But, he asked for a teacher to come. He asked specifically for early childhood education training. I think it will be good, I told him. And, these first trainings will give us an opportunity to work with you more so we know what kind of trainings might be most helpful next.
Brandi started, and her students were captivated. Play matters. It isn’t just to keep children busy. Play helps children grow, learn, understand, connect. I doubt it was all new to these women who spend their days and often nights in this place. But, that didn’t matter because I’m pretty sure that even the things they knew they had never heard defended like it was here.
They took notes. They took pictures of her PPT slides. And, they played. They actually played. They got down on the ground and built towers out of cups and hit shapes with fly swatters and matched up colored popsicle sticks. And, they teased each other and laughed and took pictures of each other that they posted on WeChat because that’s what friends do. And, they demonstrated exactly what Brandi was talking about.
It was simple. It was elementary. And, it was fun. And, it made everything a little bit friendlier and less official which is just how we like it.