Even when you think something is insignificant, pay attention...

We were in the playground. Lia found a feather, she was so happy. I shared in her excitement and told her she could keep it. As we were transitioning back to the class to set up for lunch Lia ran over and asked what would happen if her feather got wet. I was trying to gather all the children, and simply replied, “I don’t know, you need to wet it to find out!”. Lia looked at me and smiled in the shy manner she usually does. With the transition, my comment slipped my mind. We set up for lunch and I asked Lia to put her feather in her cubby, so it would not get lost. We went about our day as usual, lunch, bathroom, nap, etc. I had completely forgotten about the feather and what would happen if it got wet. Lia did not mention it again. Over the weekend I checked my work email, finally having more reliable service after the storm. Lo and behold, Lia’s mom had reached out to me about the feather. Lia had not forgotten my proposal about wetting the feather to find out what would happen. She got home and excitedly showed her mom the feather. Not only did she tell her mother I said we needed to wet it to find out what would happen, but she took this discovery a step further and decided the feather needed to be dipped in iced water. The following Monday I asked her how her experiment went and what she discovered. She was very excited to tell me all the things her feather “turned into” after dipping it in iced water. Moral of the story, our children are always paying attention. They are brilliant sponges capable of gaining knowledge through their own creative and innovative minds with our assistance and even without it. We need to keep this in mind when we are around them to ensure we are aware and purposefully acting and communicating in ways that help spark their imaginations and form positive dispositions.