Amanda, Max and Ben

My husband Jon is a magician. "Captain Jack the Magic Pirate" performs magic and creates wonderful balloon animals. In my free time, I will join him at an event and do face painting (actually, face stamping - it's faster for little kids). Today was one of those days, and the 3 new friends I made reminded my of why I am in this industry.

Amanda - 3 years old, sporting a pink dress with butterflies on it, pink clogs and a pink headband, wanted a pink butterfly on her face. Once I stamped her face, I showed her that my paint palette had red, yellow, blue and white, but not pink. What should we do? She looked at me very seriously and said, "mix red and that (white), and say a prayer and you get pink!"

Max - 2, all boy,(I could easily imagine that he'd have frogs and rocks and chewed up gum in his pockets) had no time for a stamp on his face, he just wanted to run around. Mom wanted him to have some type of stamp. (Note to parents: If your child has no interest in waiting in line for face stamping or balloon making, let them go play with a friend while YOU stay in line. That will make the overall experience happier for everyone!) Anyway, I digress. I quickly showed Max how my stamp can "kiss" his hand and make a picture. "A bas-a-ball, I have a bas-a-ball on my hand. Do again." I put a stamp on his other hand. Max couldn't believe he had TWO baseballs! He interuppted Captain Jack. "Hi, I have a bas-a-ball" he kept repeating. When Captain Jack saw his excitement, he made Max a huge balloon baseball cap. Max ran up to everyone at the event, showing off his cap and hands. Yet, little Max did not yet understand his physical space limitations, and kept banging into people with this balloon on his head, but it never seemed to bother him. He was a bas-a-ball player, and that was all that mattered.

Benjamin - 4 (maybe 3 - he was small but very verbal.) He'd already had a balloon (pink puppy dog with black nose and big ears), and had two stamps on his hands, (a frog and an alien spaceship) but wanted more. I watched him wait patiently for the balloon and the stamps, (he even let Amanda go ahead of him!) and when there was a lull in my line, he came up and asked me for "one more painting." He decided on a crown, so I asked him if he wanted a king crown or a prince crown. (Note: Was that a gender biased question? Should I have offered Ben the option for a queen crown or a princess crown as well?) Hmmm....

Anyway, Benjamin wanted a "pretty King crown" on his cheek, and when I started to dab on the green gemstones, he asked my what I was putting on his face. "Emeralds" I told him. "Emmeralls" he replied. No need to correct him. It was just too cute for words. I asked if I could hug him because he was so yummy. He said, "Yes, but wait cause the emeralls are wet."

3 new friends, three completely different imaginations. Three different ways of communicating and understanding. How is it that teachers try to use the same curriculum for each child when they are so very different? Just one more reason I love emergent learning!!