One of my favorite books as a child was Maurice Sendak's "WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE;" I read it often and grew comfortable with the monsters. Of course a key refrain in that book is "Let the wild rumpus begin!" What kid doesn't like a little bit of rumpus?
It should come as no shock to anyone that I'm a loud person. I think one of the reasons children like me is the fact that I'm loud and extreme and prone to zaniness. I think children benefit from time and space to just go a little crazy --- to run and shout and tumble and rumble.
I visited the annual Pittsburgh Children's Festival this week and was drawn to one particular play place. Someone had strung up in varying heights and locations pans, pots, plastic bowling pins of bright colors, tubing, metal objects, etc. Kids were invited to select a plastic stick and proceed to "play" (read bang, smack, hit...) the variety of objects. The noise could be heard around the park! The banging was matched in loudness by the shrieks and shouts and laughter of the chlidren expressing their musical selves....it was indeed a wild rumpus!
I shared this experience with a colleague and she exclaimed, "What a great idea! You know they should have something like that in schools, on playgrounds; infact, we should have one in offices!"
Definitely. We all need space and time to release, to shout, to make some noise, to get what needs out...out.
Assignment for this week: Get out and make some noise!