Getting carried away in a good idea

A cardboard box has a surprisingly short life as a cardboard box. Turn it on its side and it becomes a dog kennel. Cut a window in it and someone starts taking orders for coffee. By lunchtime it’s a bus, and there’s a dispute about whether the driver gets to decide where everyone is going.

There’s something lovely about a child spending half an hour making a place for an imaginary dog simply because they’re absorbed in the idea.

In Christian early learning, we often talk about nurturing the whole child. That includes giving children time to get carried away with a good idea. The biblical picture of creation has room for delight in what has been made. There’s a little of that delight in the child who calls you over, opens a crooked cardboard door and says, with complete seriousness, “This is where the dog sleeps.”

Adults have an interesting part to play. Sometimes we join the game because we’ve been handed a paper coffee. Sometimes we offer tape because the roof is about to fall in. And sometimes the best thing we can do is leave the box where it is until tomorrow. In a busy room, that last decision can take some doing. There’s tidying to get through, floor space to reclaim and a fresh activity ready to go. But the children may still have plans for that box.

We often ask children what they made. It’s worth asking what they’re still making. You might hear that the dog needs a bigger bed, the café is opening a second window, or the bus is finally going somewhere everyone has agreed on. That’s a good reason to leave the box out for another day. What would you do with the box at the end of a busy day?