My parents still have my Vincy the Vacuum story from the second grade framed in their house. It is an alliterative tale of an alien from Venus, with the shape of the household appliance, traveling to Earth, Vermont to be exact. This is where it begins finding our voice… silly or sensitive or sassy or sarcastic or soulful. I remember my teacher commending my story to my parents as it displayed amongst the other stories for open house. This was my first cherished experience with writing.
The playground where I work is a luxury and is one of the largest outdoor play yards, I have seen at a daycare center. The children can explore, investigate, create and imagine in the natural world. I simply love this piece about my workplace and savor the outdoor world with the children. The playground is another playful place of peace where I gather insight, dialogue and experiences through the eyes of a child. Through the interaction with these little humans, at the wise old age of two and three, I share my learning as they share theirs. I take advantage of the outside environment to be one of them… running, pretending, creating and laughing. They are now at my favorite age where language is rapidly growing and they are starting to understand the concept of rhyming. One three year old boy eagerly states to me, “Hey, Amy. Socks, clocks and blocks rhyme.”
Riddles and rhymes are favorites in our classroom. We often read the stories and poems of Shel Silverstein, Dr Seuss and Douglas Florian. We have a visiting poet come to our center to enhance literacy and writing in the form of poetry each year with 3-5 year olds through reading and creating their own classroom poetry. Other poets writings, throughout the history of poetry, are a source of inspiration , as in any work of art, artists look to their predecessors to gather a form and thought to use as a guide…to serve as framework, to surpass, or even as a little appreciative of their work. Playgrounds and poets are two other sources of my inspiration for writing and poetry. Inspirations can arrive in the form of people, places and things; anything you can possibly imagine in the infinite playground… the universe.
Playfully,
Amy
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