What’s Your Name?
Children have an amazing capacity to share, play and learn with other children without the social pressures to be polite and proper. This is to say, that children don’t need to ask how you are, learn your name or even ask if you want to play, in order to play. Yes, there is merit to social etiquette but for children the simple fact that you exist is enough for them to engage you in play.
I observed my two daughters playing with a boy they never met. The boy ran up a hill and my girls folllowed, never asking if they could play but rather joining the boy as he ran up and down the hill. It didn’t take long before they were chatting and laughing, with very large smiles on their faces’s. Now, some people may find it rude to have someone just join in a conversation but for children that barrier just doesn’t exist. After a few minutes the Mom of the boy came over and mentioned that she has been encouraging her son to ask people their name. I also encourage Bella to ask “what’s your name, wanna play?” but i never force her to go beyond her comfort zone. In time, I know she will gain confidence but for now, it really isn’t necessary to know someones name in order to play with them. At some point in the two hours we were at the playground, the boy or Bella must have talked about their names because by the time we left, she was able to call out “bye J.” (first initial to keep privacy) The entire experience put a smile on my face and reminded me that children learn to socialize with some guidance from Mom, Dad and other significant adults, but they learn a lot from each other and friendships are formed through small moments in time not because we “socialize them.”
Posted on October 5th, 2007 by karen
Filed under: Uncategorized