In case you didn’t know… children spill things!
Of course, this is not shocking news to anyone. However, children are also drawn to an orderly, clean environment.
All too often we act like it’s a surprise when a child spills something. Whether it’s a cup of water, a jar of paint or a bowl of food, this is a normal part of child development. A child’s muscle-memory develops along such mistakes. They remember what didn’t work and they want to do better the next time.
Like your home, our classrooms are no exception to children who make a mess. When a child makes a mistake such as spilling something, our job as school-teachers (and parents) is not to clean it up for them, but to embrace the spill and help them utilize their abilities to clean it up and learn from their mistakes.
We have found, as shown in this candid classroom shot below, that children will go to great lengths to demonstrate maturity and maintain the clean environment that is our classroom. Here they are mimicking we the teachers. The children see the teachers dusting the works, sweeping the floor and organizing the shelves, and they want to show that they can do these things, too. Hopefully our families see this translate to their homes as well.
