Time is a precious thing! And the schedule in schools as well as in life is often run by the clock. A topic is explored for a limited amount of time and then the focus and learning is shifting towards new topics. This approach may be more successful in certain subjects but overall this approach leaves no natural room for reflecting upon and developing ideas.
Yet often a period of rest can lead to new insight and ideas can be improved upon. new possibilities can appear anytime, while a child is out walking, brushing her teeth or just before them fall asleep.
A new idea emerged related to the Monkey Face Orchid, see previous blog post, just before falling asleep.
Some orchids are epiphytes or "air plants" and they grow on top of other plants, such as on tree bark. This helps the orchids to get a bit closer to the light and these types of orchids to not want to sit in water rather they like getting a lot of air to their roots.
Exciting new ideas emerged related to ways to connect the Chinese Monkey Face boxes. The boxes could be connected and the conditions in the boxes could be changed via tubes - making the boxes perfect for storing food.
Ideas may be excellent but there is a great joy in allowing ideas to mature and to grow. Teaching children that they can do better is a wonderful thing and instead of judging ideas it is better to look upon them as starting points for growth. Exploring possibilities and allowing children to work on "crazy ideas" help to lay a foundation for a creative approach towards thinking.
Happy Think Diving
