The other day I was playing with my nephew who is 14 months old. I watched as he went from playing with building blocks to little farm animals to anything and everything. Construction. Destruction. Repeat. It was really magnificent to try to see the world through his eyes, and even more interesting, to observe what was coming up in me as he played.
The main toy we were playing with was a little farmhouse. This little farmhouse has cutouts in the sides of it that match the shape of different animals that are wooden pieces… sheep, cow, chicken, horse, farmer, and so on. I laid all the farm-themed shapes out on the ground around it and tried to teach him how to do it, “hey! So what fits in this one? Is this a cow?!” Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge. He grabbed the cow out of my hand and shoved it where the sheep was supposed to go.
I wanted to correct him. I wanted to teach him. I wanted him to know that the sheep goes there, not the cow! I wanted him to get it right.
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