Last Friday, our Turtle Fiesta themed camp took a wild turn when I made the quip, “and you may want to make dragons instead - if clay turtles are too easy…. In fact, I’ll show you how to make a wire armature. “
While I made a dragon out of masking tape and paper— campers made jellyfish, soccer players, and dinosaurs, etc. They wrestled with the wire feeling “too pointy, the stuck tape “not unrolling” and their figures unable to stand on their feet. And it took a few false starts as they figured out what they really wanted to make as it was forming in their hands.
They were surprised that their parents were already there to pick them up — because we were still in the thick of creation at the end of the day.
Note to my teacher self:
It’s important to make room for real engagement — which means that I don’t know how the projects are going to turn out. I need to risk— change of plans and potential flops so we are growing creative courage not just making pretty pictures.