Vacant Box, Short String Theory
It seems that children at very young ages are concrete thinkers. They are not aware that they think, yet are able to see things with such clarity in ways that adults and post-pubescent people are incapable of understanding.
My children never really liked those plastic building blocks; you know the kind that have convex faces and some of the flashing left from the blow-molding process still on them. Impossible to stack more than two or three high before they wobble and fall down (though good for throwing and hitting sister in the eye). But those solid wood blocks are great, my kids could stack those ten and more high before knocking them down while squealing with laughter. The smooth flat faces and nice square corners they could feel with their clumsy little fingers were perfect for the task.
But they were solid wood. What you got on the outside was through the middle and all the way out to other side. The block has mass to its proportion; it has weight; it is simple: the block can be grasped!
The plastic box on the other hand is vacant. The shape is a representation of a block of wood, not the real thing you understand; it looks pretty much the same though, but if you use your imagination...(oh, sorry you're an adult. I forgot) the child, remember, is a hard concrete thinker. Where is the mass? How much does it weigh? (Trust me kid, the empty plastic is just as good, costs me a whole lot less and it won't hurt your sister when you chuck it at her)
The children just don't get empty or vacant enclosed spaces (and by the way do you know what blow-molding is?)
But what about TV? and Computers? or iPods and cell phones? "How do those little people or voices, or horns and guitars get in those vacant boxes? What? It's not vacant? Oh, it is full of transistors and silicone chips? and software too? Wow! Thanks for clearing that up for me Dad!"
"No, no son it's just a representation; remember? like the plastic blocks!"
Great. What have we done to our kids? Better to give them a short piece of string to play with...
My children never really liked those plastic building blocks; you know the kind that have convex faces and some of the flashing left from the blow-molding process still on them. Impossible to stack more than two or three high before they wobble and fall down (though good for throwing and hitting sister in the eye). But those solid wood blocks are great, my kids could stack those ten and more high before knocking them down while squealing with laughter. The smooth flat faces and nice square corners they could feel with their clumsy little fingers were perfect for the task.
But they were solid wood. What you got on the outside was through the middle and all the way out to other side. The block has mass to its proportion; it has weight; it is simple: the block can be grasped!
The plastic box on the other hand is vacant. The shape is a representation of a block of wood, not the real thing you understand; it looks pretty much the same though, but if you use your imagination...(oh, sorry you're an adult. I forgot) the child, remember, is a hard concrete thinker. Where is the mass? How much does it weigh? (Trust me kid, the empty plastic is just as good, costs me a whole lot less and it won't hurt your sister when you chuck it at her)
The children just don't get empty or vacant enclosed spaces (and by the way do you know what blow-molding is?)
But what about TV? and Computers? or iPods and cell phones? "How do those little people or voices, or horns and guitars get in those vacant boxes? What? It's not vacant? Oh, it is full of transistors and silicone chips? and software too? Wow! Thanks for clearing that up for me Dad!"
"No, no son it's just a representation; remember? like the plastic blocks!"
Great. What have we done to our kids? Better to give them a short piece of string to play with...
Labels: child behavior
posted by slantrider at 4:08 PM
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