The Nut in the Bird House

Today Ky found a nut (a nut and bolt type nut, not an edible nut) that appeared randomly on one of the dining room chairs. No one knows where it came from or how it got there, but she was quite thrilled to have found it. She carried it around for a while, then decided she wanted to find "a safe spot" to put it. She checked the front yard for a suitable spot, and none worked for her, so she checked the back yard instead. After dropping it down the hole of a bird house that was sitting on the ground, she decided she really didn't want to leave it there. Instead of going out and giving the bird house a shake I used this as an opportunity to have her practice her problem solving skills. When she told me of her dilemma I asked her, "Hmmm, how are you going to get it out?" 
Ky replied, "Ask Daddy!"
Me: "You could ask daddy, but how could you get it out?"
She thought for a moment and exclaimed, "A spoon!" and got one out of the drawer. Ky and T headed out to test out the spoon. No go. Next they tried a fork. T suggested a stick the next try. When that didn't work they wanted a bamboo skewer to try. When they returned with the skewer and no nut I asked, "What other ideas do you have?"Ky shook her head, "Ideas all gone!" So I offered to come out and have a look. I grabbed my coat (and the camera) and walked out to assess the situation with them. I commented to Ky, "Hmmm. It's stuck deep down in that hole eh?" Ky sat down and said "Yep. Hmmm... I roll it." She got up and rolled the bird house along the grass. The nut popped out of the hole , but Ky didn't notice as she continued rolling. T grabbed the nut and called to her sister and showed her. Both of them clapped and cheered. They were both so excited and proud to have figured out how to retrieve the nut on their own.

Ky In thought

Ky rolling the Birdhouse

T looks on as Ky is rolling

T finds the nut

     
 
Young children are capable of so much more than they are often given credit for. It is easy for us, as adults, to solve our children's problems for them. It often takes much longer to let them try and try and try to solve a problem, however, I believe that by giving them ample practice at solving the small problems when they are small they will be well prepared to figure out how to solve the bigger problems they will encounter as they get bigger. 
So, next time a child comes to you with a problem encourage them to come up with various solutions. You may be surprised at what they come up with!



KaTaKy's Mama