A Sense of Joy

05/31/2019

When we engage in what we are naturally suited to do, our work takes on the quality of play and it is play that stimulates creativity.
Linda Naiman

The late Bev Bos, writing in Child Development: A Beginnings Workshop Book describes how “a sense of joy in a children’s center can be quiet, loud, gentle and fun. A sense of joy can be heard, smelled, and tasted when children make the food. It can be muddy and dirty when children work in the garden and when they dig holes.…It can be blue, red, yellow, purple, brown, black and orange when children do art. A sense of joy can be found in the aching tiredness at the end of the day for children, teachers, and parents who have spent their day together.”

And in her book, The Goodness of Rain, Ann Pelo explains how educators can help children cultivate a sense of joy in deep explorations of the natural world. She includes a poem by Scott Russell Sanders that speaks to the way nature stirs joy in our souls:

“One Wild Spirit
Every blade of grass, every grasshopper,
every sparrow and twig
courses with a wild energy.
The same energy pours through me.
I rock slightly with the
slow pulse of my heart...
My breath and the clouds ride the same wind.”

Play With a Purpose - The Leader in Physical Activity in Young Children.

Connect 4 Learning - Spark More Connections.

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