One of the things that teachers of preschoolers are interested in, whether it’s in a school classroom or a church classroom, is the development of life skills. Like putting things away. If the kids don’t help put things away, then teachers are left with significant clean-up work at the end of a day, or even just when Sunday School is over. And, as with much of life, if it’s fun, the work goes more quickly.
And, if it’s easy.
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- When there are colored shapes on a peg board, then putting away the instruments is rather like working a puzzle.
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- Same with the blocks. When blocks are all piled together in a bin, it’s hard to find the ones you want. But, when the blocks are stacked on the shelves (on top of identical, contact-paper shapes), it’s easier to locate which ones you need.
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- Play clothes on low pegboard hooks are easy to reach, and easy to put away.
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- The same for bags: ready to carry, to load up, to pack.
Now, I’m not going to pretend that they always choose the best putting-away practices. For example,
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- Cars and boats and the large utensil holder do NOT belong in the play sink.
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- Nor do cars belong with the plastic ware!
But sometimes that sort of thing happens.
And this brings me to last Sunday morning. After worship service, I went down to my Sunday School room to get my supply bag. Then I made a stop at the restroom before getting ready to leave to go out to lunch with a friend. And I realized that I didn’t have my phone. (I am trying hard to make my wardrobe be one of clothes with pockets, but a couple of things still do not meet that criteria.) I knew I’d had my phone, because I had taken some photos of the kids. And, if I don’t have a convenient pocket, I sometimes put it down. On a shelf top. On the counter. Other places. I searched all the pockets of my purse. I checked my supply bag. No phone. So I went back down to the room and checked the shelf tops, the counter, the cubbies. No phone. I thought, “What would the worship service volunteers have done with my phone if they had found it?” I unlocked the cabinet and checked all the shelves. No phone. I looked in the drawer. No phone. And then I thought, “What would the kids have done with my phone, if they had found it?” And I went straight to the exact place where some smart, well-organized kid with my phone had gone.
This is a desk organizer. It may be hard for you to see, but in the bottoms of the compartments, there are pictures, so the kids can match the items as they put away toys. There are spaces for the beads, the key rings, the eyeglasses (with the lenses out, of course), the credit cards, and, yes, the phones. And that’s right where my phone was, sitting on top of the pink one. Clever, self-sufficient, tidy kids! (In case you’re wondering where are the other phones that belong in this space, I don’t know. Stuff disappears. If you have an old phone you’re not using, we’d be glad to have it.)
Point your kids in the right direction—
when they’re old they won’t be lost.
Proverbs 22:6 (The Message)
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. That is certainly the most important right direction. And parents and teachers and family members and friends also know that there are skills that we can teach kids, too, that will help them get through their day-to-day lives.