This tree house, in a camp site where adults, families and retreatants come regularly for week ends, took me by surprise. It had a non-professional touch, which made me suspect that it might have been made by unskilled workers.
The story of this tree house suggests a prolonged gestational period.
When a few middle school going children came to the campus along with their parents, they showed an interest to climb trees which prompted the care taker to offer to make a tree house for them. During the two days they stayed at the campus, they erected the poles and made some scaffolding to support the the base. It took another three batches of students, who came during the next six months to complete this to this shape.
I watched children at the tree house having their picnic lunch and spending time watching birds with their binoculars.It looked bit risky for children to climb the ladder, but they did climb under supervision!
It is fascinating to observe that children can be directed to plan for their play. Often children are impulsive and impromptu when it comes to plan for their leisure time. As they do not always invent creative things, they end up gravitating towards the play station, computer games., TV viewing, etc. It is by default that these patters are formed.
If we are ready with a plan for each evening for their play activity, most children would follow pursuing something creative, original and informative. If we let them loose with no supervision, they would soon find themselves getting addicted to the easy options!
Parents have a responsibility to creatively pursue developing multiple interests in children lest they become stereotypical by following the pattern of the majority of their friends.
A child is a resource; he or she needs an opportunity to express! We owe it to them to create it!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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