One of my 5-year-old campers ran up to me with Monarch wings, a red cape, a tutu dress, and a crown. She proudly declared that she was a “butterfly-superhero-queen.” In the ordinary imagination of my young campers, they are anything and everything. We give campers opportunities to care for animals, harvest the vegetables they’ve watered and explore the world right in front of their hands at our farm camp/day camp. They are butterflies. They are superheroes. And they are kings and queens of the bamboo forest.
Amidst organic sunscreens and creek mud, 50+ 5&6 year olds (over several weeks) invited me into their imaginations, frustrations, and friendships. Our “deep” conversations revolve around unicorns and sweet summer peaches. We gather together to sing songs about bananas and moose. We share meal times with fresh baked muffins and our chins drip with watermelon juice. In the hot humid sun, we plant, water, and harvest the vegetables in the field.
Scraped knees, sweaty noses, disappointments, and exhaustion make a rhythm with giggles from cold sprinklers and popsicles. Some of these children have become my dear friends and simply because we were friends from the start. There were no labels that said we couldn’t be friends. We were friends because we were together. I admire their creative hands they use for building forts, for baking, for sandcastles, and for holding hands. My hands are now full of friendships.
When parents come to pick up their children, I thank each child for playing today. In one day they could have been a chef in the kitchen, a champion in gaga ball, an opera star, a hungry caterpillar, a fantastic explorer, and a brilliant inventor. We encourage them to freely play without fear of being the “wrong” thing. Their play inspires me, as it should for all of us. They see beyond sticks and rope or paper and crayons. They don’t need lines to color inside or instructions to build. As we work through activities or animal chores, we stop to PLAY. The joy is far more important than the efficiency of the tasks.
I’m not sure how working with these children will influence my time in college coming soon, but I know I certainly won’t forget the hands that held mine. May imagination continue to guide these children when summer days are over. Thank you so much, my butterfly-superhero-queens! Or as one child covered in mud declared to me yesterday, “I’m a pig!”
Love,
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