Observed this morning on the playground:
Two little girls–I’d say five or six years old–playing in the sandbox. They have a giant water bottle filled about half way to the top with water, and they’re scooping sand into it little by little, intermittently mixing it with a stick.
A little boy of approximately the same age runs over. “Wow! What are you making? I want to help!”
The girls glance up but don’t give him much acknowledgement. They continue to work on their concoction.
He makes another attempt. “Oh yum!” he says.”It looks like spaghetti and meatballs and giant slices of watermelon!”
He grabs a stick and runs behind one of the girls who is stirring. He hovers over her shoulder, trying to get a better look. “Let me help! We can make cupcakes, too!”
The girls look up at him, noticeably irritated. “No!” they say. “Stop it! We’re not making any of that stuff!”
The boy looks puzzled.
“We’re making dirty water.”
wow Kendra, we just had a meeting after school tonight talking about boys and what they think, like, and do. We are focusing on “boys as writers” and what we can do to improve their feelings toward it. It was suggested we loosen up a little and let boys be boys….let them use their imaginations (and even add a little gore every now and them). This post was so timely. If you don’t mind I am going to share it with my colleagues.
How coincidental! I definitely don’t mind your sharing with your colleagues. It’s crazy how differently boys and girls think at that age. Awesome that you guys are addressing it in writing!
Girls can be down right rude!! That’s for sure! Poor little boy 😦
I did feel sorry for the poor guy. He was so excited about his feast. Luckily he ended up finding some other boys to pretend with him.
I’ve noticed that with my niece and my son (both 3) my son is the more imaginative/dreamer and she is the realistic like no this is whats really going on.. cute post though.
Thanks, Erica! Funny what such different perspectives they can have, even at that age.