Deconstruction- making art from discards

The Deconstruction Class was developed at the Mental Health Center in Longmont, Colorado in 2004. The context was a 10-week therapy play group for 7-10 year old boys. The idea for the group was to provide socialization and play skills. For many of this young boys the home environment was extremely chaotic and even sometimes dangerous. These were family situations with multiple problems including child sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment and poverty. I used a simple structure from my home preschool days. We began with an opening circle which consisted of greeting and check-in. Each child was asked to share something. I might ask a question. “What is the best thing that happened to you today?” Or “Tell me something fun that you did last night at home."

Then we would have snack. Each day there was a server, who handed out the plates, cups and napkins, then served each child. We had to wait until everyone was served, then we would all eat. After snack we would have project, or a game or activity. I had previously worked with children this age doing simple wood constructions mostly using small blocks of wood and glue, though occasionally I would introduce nails and hammering and simple sawing. I wanted to find a way to use more and different tools. I had the idea to take apart some simple small appliances. I tried it one day with a radio/tape player that didn't work anymore that I had at home. The boys took to it immediately. The excitement of opening up this appliance was fantastic. That moment when we took the back off was the best.

I visited a local thrift store on Main Street in Longmont and convinced them to give me their discarded (i.e.- no longer functioning and therefore unsellable) electronics and small appliances. These included, VCR’s, radio’s CD players, computer keyboards, an electric piano, a ceiling fan, blender. They were very grateful that I took the stuff they couldn't sell off their hands, and I was delighted to have am almost inexhaustible source for all kinds of interesting items to take apart. 

 

The project was first to simply take apart the machines. The main rule was that you could not break anything. Everything had to be unscrewed and taken apart. I encouraged them to get things down to where there was nothing further to take apart. The individual components were then saved in a box. 

 

Each day was an exciting adventure of discovery. The emphasis was on the boys doing this on their own. Of course, they would often need assistance, but they were encouraged to try to do as much themselves as they could. In fact, I would not help them unless they tried at least twice. 

 

It was fascinating to see their personalities manifest in the face of this kind of challenge. They were enormously excited to be using real tools to take apart real things. These were not toys, but practical things they saw in their lives everyday in their homes, and in the homes of their friends and family. They had to work hard, especially in the beginning when they are mostly removing screws. Often they needed to have screws started, which I was glad to do and then they could remove them. They had to learn which way to unscrew. “Righty tighty, lefty loosey” was the phrase we used to remember this, but translating that phrase into a kinetic experience, into the actual repetitive turning was quite challenging for some of them. For others it was immediately pure joy. They were completely absorbed in this task. Some boys found the challenges almost overwhelming and would soon want to give up. They needed a little more encouragement and support. Some of them expressed their frustration loudly and easily. For them it was a challenge just to come back to the project, to calm themselves enough to continue.

It was a delicate balance between pushing them into compliance by the force of my ‘big’ self and allowing them to find their way into the process on their own. Sometimes they needed permission to not do anything. I would just let them be. Almost always they would be drawn back in by the other children, and by having the space to make their own decision and move at their own pace.

The best moment was when the screws were removed and the radio or tape player or VCR was opened and revealed its guts. This almost always created a huge “WOW”. The look of wonder, the excitement and satisfaction of accomplishment and success already, at this early stage, were inspiring and uplifting. Whatever else was going on in their lives, these moments were precious and fulfilling and healing all on their own. As a teacher and therapist, these moments made me feel like change was possible in these young lives. Entering the insides of these objects is like visiting a foreign country or an alien planet or, like looking into their own inner world and mind. And, of course, it didn’t stop there. They got to continue to take apart the insides of these machines. 

We start with screws, but sometimes, even with all the screws removed, things would not come apart. What now? The excitement of new territory was not just theirs. I was learning right along with them. I discovered that there were many other ways that things were held together. Sometimes a clip needed to be pushed back to release a circuit board. Washers often held things together, or a nut had to be loosened from a screw. And fittingly, despite the ‘rule’ about not breaking, and apropos of much in their young lives, sometimes, after trying everything else first, the only way to proceed was to break something. This was also very satisfying. First, to get to break the rule, and second, to be able to break something when it was the only way forward. This was always something that had to be carefully considered and investigated and only when there is clearly no other option. Then we break.

Over the course of the 10 weeks, a child might take apart multiple pieces of equipment, or they might spend weeks on one thing. One child spent the entire time taking apart a video camera. They were all engaged and excited about what they were discovering. It wasn’t always easy . They had to share tools and wait their turn. Especially if they needed my help. They just simply had to wait. And they did. The level of industriousness and focus was very impressive. Many of these boys struggled in school and had trouble staying on task. Not here. It was fascinating to see them struggle with their habitual way of doing things, to see how they felt they should be treated. Some expected me to do things for them and were perplexed when I wouldn’t. Others just the opposite, not wanting me to do anything, not letting me or just not believing I would actually help them, so programmed to be neglected, not knowing how to receive my attention. 

 

We continued taking things completely apart, down to the last screw or wire All along we are saving the interesting pieces, boxes and boxes of them while a lot of the bigger pieces, frames, cases, boxes, etc, we did not keep. The last class was the culmination. It was called Construction. All the small parts we were brought back out and each child could made a sculptural art piece using the various components of things they had taken apart. Sometimes a block of Styrofoam was used as a base, sometimes a cardboard box, sometimes just the pieces themselves.

This aspect presented a different kind of challenge. Now we were in the realm of free-form creativity. Some were hesitant and unsure while others plunged ahead fearlessly. This represented another step into the unknown. I believe their experience of things like legos made this easier in general or at least more familiar, then the deconstruction part It still represented a challenge.

The fact that they now had something to take home, something to show their parents and siblings gave them a genuine sense of pride and accomplishment. The parents were very impressed as well. For under achieving children to suddenly show up with a piece of art, a 3 dimensional sculpture, was very touching.

The benefits of Deconstruction are many and varied. It is a fun and engaging activity just on the surface. This makes it a learning experience to begin with because children learn through play. It engages children in a personal endeavor that involves cooperating and sharing tools. Because they are so engaged it increases attention span and the ability to focus. Staying with the process from beginning to end gives them an experience of delayed gratification when they succeed in constructing, making something completely new from the discarded pieces. I especially loved the application of these principles in the lives of these damaged children, the idea of taking apart the old that doesn’t work anymore and making something completely new out of what is available and our creative imagination. This is what they were doing with their young lives. 

 

On another level, we are taking discards, used up items that are bound for the landfill, and recycling them in a delightful way. While many of the parts would eventually end up in the garbage, they were given another life, a different life in the service of wonder and learning, and at least what eventually finds its way into the landfill is in much smaller pieces. And most wonderful of all, some of the parts of these discarded object become art, and will be saved and cherished as such.

The program has changed since the days in Longmont. Now after one or two weeks of taking things apart, making sculptures is introduced and continues throughout the class. Partly this is in response to children who have taken Decon more than once and don’t want to wait to construct, and partly it is a response to the growing number of great parts that have accumulated in the ‘recycle boxes”.

At one point a parent who knew about machines and electronics pointed out that in many of these machines there are small motors, and that with two wires and a battery one could make those motors work. Most of the time this meant that s shaft would spin. This added a whole new level of possibility for sculpture, one that involved movement. The first child glued a piece of paper to the shaft of the motor and just made it go around and around. Then someone glued something harder to the shaft and positioned the motor so the extra piece hit against something and made a sound like a bell or noisemaker. Next we discovered rubber bands and belts and one young man almost made a car. Didn't quite get the tension right, but he was close. 

Then there are switches. The most primitive one is a paper clip cut into two pieces, two pieces of wire and a battery and, of course, a small motor. It goes on from there, right up to pulling a switch mechanism out of a vacuum cleaner and re-wiring it to make your motor go on and off. Very cool.

From the very beginning I realized that I was not interested in doing a lot of things for the children that they could do themselves. There is an approach that seems to posit that the child needs to accomplish something fantastic and that it's ok if the adult does most of the work and the child takes the credit for it. It seems designed so that they can impress people and feel good about themselves. Adults around them know full well that the child did that with a huge amount of adult input, but not wanting to discourage the children, they go along. I wanted what they did to actually be there's. I actually believe that this is much more satisfying for them and, in the long run, of much more benefit to their self-esteem and relationship to the world. They are not fooled. They know when someone takes over a project and completes it for them, and they can become acclimated to such an approach, which is extremely debilitating to their own process. 

I say very little about the creative part, the putting all these pieces of things back together in a totally different way. Nor did I offer to help them, though if anyone asked I am very willing to give a suggestion or assistance. Sometimes I would intervene with a suggestion if I knew where she was going and could provide a short cut. I say Yes to their internal, individual sense of what is needed now, in this moment. I will say “Some people like to find a base and then build up from there, but it's really up to you.” 

Up to this point I have not really developed the ‘how does this work’ aspect beyond noticing what happens when you push this or pull that. I am getting to know what different parts of these machines are for, a capacitor, a circuit board, a condenser. I share this information freely, when appropriate. At the same time, they each have an individual encounter with a very specific manifestation of our technology and culture on a very visceral level, they are learning a lot. When they have done this class over and over, they have taken apart dozens of different kinds of contraptions.

In order to be as safe as possible, I observe certain rules:

1. I cut off the power cords before bringing the machines into class just so no one could plug something in “just to see what happens”.

2. I decided not to take apart anything with a screen: TV’s, Computer monitors, etc. because of the danger connected with taking apart glass things.

3. The children are carefully instructed that they are not to do this at home with their family appliances. (although sometimes parents are so enthusiastic that they actually provided opportunities for Deconstruction at home.)

Also there arose a need to make a rule about finishing what you start. It would be easy to take a large complex item, take it part way apart, then lose interest and want to do something else. So it became necessary to make an agreement and understanding at the beginning . Whatever you start taking apart, you are making a commitment to take it all the way apart. You must finish to the best of your ability. I am not afraid to help, especially if I see someone who has really put in a lot of time and effort and is just wearing down. But the standard is that you take everything completely apart. This is especially important when looking at a typewriter or a sewing machine, highly complex projects.

In terms of taking things home, the policy I developed is that anything that you change in some way is considered a sculpture and can be taken home. Other than that the pieces stay in your bag in the classroom. At the last class of the session you may take home 3 pieces that you have not built or sculpted as long as they are completely deconstructed. You can take any 3 things. This discourages the pack rats in the group from hording bags and bags of parts at home that parents then have to deal with at a later time.

I am curious to explore Deconstruction for adults and teenagers. So far I have had two adults, both women, one an artist, and the other just curious. They both seemed to enjoy it for different reasons, which is I suspect the secret of success in this realm. Everyone does it for their own special reasons and takes away their own private lessons. The form is big enough to accommodate all levels of exploration, even, maybe especially, the philosophical and spiritual, the sacred and the profane, the ordinary and the extraordinary that it contains.

The source: Pee Wee Kilowatt; original script

This is the original play about Pee Wee Kilowatt.  Written and produced in 1970 at the Caspar Community School, Mendocino, California by me, known then as Tom Brown.

THE LIFE DEATH STRUGGLE OF PEE WEE KILOWATT

Mitchel enters bare stage from ceiling by rope.

M: What do you think of abortion on the first date? (He asks everyone, including audience.) What do you think of abortion on the first date?

The rest of the kids assemble on stage a few at a time as if just getting together to play. Various conversations going on at the same time.

1: hey Valerie, we're having a party tonight, can you come over?

2: boy, it was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen.

(three enter playing leap frog)

A chord is struck (On the insides of a piano)

Kids freeze.

Announcer: The life death struggle of pee wee kilowatt.

(kids take three steps toward audience, freeze.

A: First, BIRTH

(Kids form a tight circle, start swaying and making noises of a woman in labor, in crescendos, moaning, they are a womb about to give birth)

a nurse and doctor are running rather frantically about trying to deliver the child. After some confusion, out pops Pee Wee with an electrical cord as an umbilical cord, looks at audience.

Pee Wee: I want to go back.

(he is grabbed by doctor)

Dr: Nurse, this is the strangest umbilical cord I've ever seen, please give me some light.

(Nurse plugs pee wee in, who is very turned on.)

Ann: VISION NUMBER 1

(Kids do weird mechanical movements to vocal accompaniment. Pee Wee is totally enraptured.)

A: PEE WEE'S THIRD BIRTHDAY

Mother: Well Pee Wee how does it feel to be 3 years old?

PW: Of just great Mom, just great.

Father: Congratulations Pee Wee, I never thought you'd make it . (aside: I was sure the little creep would have done himself in by now.)

M: Well Pee Wee we bought you something special for our birthday, but you have to guess what it is.

F: Yes, Pee Wee, you have three guesses.

PW: uh, let's see..an electric toothbrush?

M: No Pee Wee, and don't remind me about all those electric toothbrushes of mine you broke last year...

PW: There was only 4 Mom.

F: Only?..why you misera....

M: George! It's his birthday...really!

F: Oh all right. I hope you fall down and break your head for your birthday.

(Pee Wee gives him the finger)

F: Why you....

M: George- Pee Wee, stop it this instant..Pee Wee lets have your second guess

PW: Ok..let's see...an electric chair?

F: Oh I wish...the kid's crazy...see?

M: No Pee Wee. Try again.

PW: uh....an electric train?

M: Yes Pee Wee, that's right, an electric train... Here's the instruction book. It tells you with pictures how it works and hot to put it together..We're going to bed now dear, don't stay up too late playing with our new trains.

F: Yeah, and don't make any noise either.

The electric train is composed of all the kids, each one making a different movement and a different sound. Pee Wee puts them together and turns them on. Very slowly at first, gradually they get faster and faster. Every once in a while his mother and father, who are n the side of the stage making comments about him and arguing, shout over at him to be quiet or to go to bed soon or something. Faster and faster the train goes until finally the train becomes a circle of kids holding hands and singing 

 

ring around the rosy

pocket full of posy

ashes, ashes

all fall down

and they all fall down with a crash. Mother and father enter very mad.

M: Look at your brand new train, scattered all over the room, is that any way to take care of your things.

F: Let me handle this Martha, you go off to bed. Now listen Pee Wee, you've got to understand this, there is no future in electronics, electricity is a thing of the past...it's politics, that's what's important..don't you want to be like your old man (turns and grins at the audience, Pee Wee grimaces) Now go to bed immediately, I'm going to take these trains back tomorrow and get you some books, like other kids have. (leaves)

PW: I never get to have any fun. Now I don't have any electricity to play with. It's just no fun if it not electric. It just has to turn me on. (Puts electric cord in his mouth)

VISION NUMBER 2 (same weird electric movements and accompaniment.

Ann: PEE WEE RUNS AWAY

PW- I'm gonna run away (he runs back and forth on stage front, all the kids run back and forth behind him or run in place)

i've had enough of that, took my trains away huh, i'll show them I”m just gonna run away from home.

(one of the kids approaches him, they keep running in place)

K: hey kid, where ya going in such a hurry, huh?

PW: I'm running away from home.

K: oh yea, how come?

PW: my parents took away my electric trains.

K: too bad, well, I'll see ya...

PW: So long..boy, I'm sure glad I'm outa there, what a drag, man, ya just can't live without electricity, you know..

(another kid approaches)

K: Hi Pee Wee, where ya going?

PW: Oh, I'm going to visit my Uncle Seymour.

K: Your Uncle Seymour?

PW: Yes, you know, Uncle Seymour, the one with the electric circus.

K: oh yeah..well have a good time Pee Wee.

PW: yeah, ok, bye...boy I just can't wait to see my good old Uncle Seymour again and his electric circus, boy that'll really blow my fuses, he has the best electric circus in the world ya know...

(Another kid approaches)

K: Hey man, what's happening?

PW: Oh nothing, just walking along.

K: Sure is a groovy day, can you dig it?

PW: You bet your batteries I can (they slap hands) Well, we'll see ya.

(Pee Wee runs to the end of the stage and runs right into Uncle Seymour, almost knocking him down)

PW: UNCLE SEYMOUR!!!!!!

US: Huh?..what?..what's the big idea?

PW: Don't you recognize me Uncle Seymour?

US: well, let me see here, uh well....

PW: It's me Uncle Seymour, your nephew, Pee Wee Kilowatt. Remember me Uncle Seymour, little Pee Wee.

US: Oh yeah..Pee Wee...well you're not such a pee wee any more are you???(Laughs Loudly) Eh? That's a good one.

PW: Oh yeah..Ha ha, very funny Uncle Seymour.

US: What brings you all this way Pee Wee, where's your Mom and Pop?

PW: Well Uncle Seymour, I ran away from home.

US:Ran away from home huh?...How come?

PW: Well ya see Uncle Seymour, Mom and Pop took away my electric trains and all my electric toys.

US:What's the matter, can't get any more charges...ha ha ha (Laughs loudly again)

PW: No well, uh yeah, hee hee (forced laughter)

US: I never like my brother very much, he was always so creepy...

I say yes

I Say Yes

I was sitting in Borders talking to my old grad school friend Holly and her friend Dan. She asked me to explain what I do. As I talked Dan got all excited and said I should write a book and the title of the book should be “I say Yes”. I guess he was inspired by what I said. It went something like this:

I devise ways that I can say Yes to children. It is an amazing thing to do. Over the years I have devised various structures to facilitate this. Children need to hear yes a lot. It affirms on so many levels and communicates so much. It says I see you, I hear you, you are here, we are present together. It says “you may”, you have my permission, this is a good thing to do right now. It says “you can”, you have the ability, you are able to do this, you can accomplish this (it may take some time and effort but you can do it). It says yes, there is something in you, that is good, and that is manifesting right now and I see you doing that, and it is welcome here, not only right now, but on this planet, in this world. Yes says that I appreciate and care about who you are.

This is not the same as letting a child do whatever they want, or asking them what they want or letting them do what you think they should want or making them do what you think is right for them. It is based on a belief in the basic goodness of each person, but it also includes the acknowledgment that they develop in an orderly fashion that can be identified. That we can know what is appropriate for each stage of child development. It is the next step in this developmental ladder that lets us know where the Yes has to fit in. This allows us to know when to say Yes, when to say NO and what needs to happen in order to bring us together in Yes. Hopefully this will become clearer as we begin to talk about the specifics of the programs. 

 

One very effective way of saying Yes is through something called Guided Story Play (GSP). It is a class for younger children 5-8 years old. This is how it goes: The children create a character for themselves. It can be anything from an animal to an ordinary person to a super hero or alien or monster. Whatever they want to be, I get to say Yes! Sometimes they walk into the room knowing what they want to be, other times it seems they look through the boxes of costumes to get an idea. Sometimes their character will come from an idea a friend has. It doesn't matter. They get to choose. They can pick a name for their character, or use their own or have no name.

The second task is to create a home. Every character needs to have a home. A place to go when the story starts. A place to return to to listen to the rest of the story. There is a bunch of electronic equipment they can use in their homes. Cell phones, walkie-talkies, computer keyboards, and an assortment of other odd and interesting pieces of technology that I have collected over time.

I write down their basic choices, their character and name plus any powers they might have, whether they are good or evil, and what they want to happen to them in the story. If what they want to happen involves someone else, they need to get that person's permission to include them in their part of the story. If the computer scientist wants to capture the princess, he has to ask the princess' permission. Usually, if someone gets captured, they also get to chose who rescues them, again, asking permission to each person involved.

There are lots of possibilities. If someone wants to be captured and no one is interested in capturing them, I will become “Evil King Obe” and do the deed. Being evil is an important part of the experience. Some children begin with an aversion to being evil and then, over time, get more comfortable with it. It is not defined in any way except by their own concept. They might start the out as evil in the story and end up good. This can involve a death and being brought back to life. These transformations are not a big deal. Dieing and coming back to life are pretty matter of fact in this context. In fact, everything is possible in this world. Any opportunity to say Yes! Once they have had their say, we usually have a rough outline for a story.

This first part part of the class is pretty chaotic. They are very busy here, creating their homes and costumes, running around, talking, yelling sometimes. During this time they also begin to play. All kinds of things happen during this play period which can last up to 30 or 40 minutes. They are deeply involved. There are few conflicts during this time. Sometimes there are disputes about a particular costume or piece of equipment. The instruction is always, “well, we have to share”. The basic guidelines is if someone had it first, it is theirs. Sometimes I just have to decide. They seem so engrossed sometimes that I will say “OK guys. If you want, we can just play today”. No matter how intense the play is, how involved they are in it, although there are sometimes one or two who would choose to just play, the majority always want to go ahead with the story. Not once have they chosen to forego the play and just keep playing.  

So, when it is time for the story to start, it is time for them to go home and be quiet. There is no talking during the story, and no interrupting. There is one exception. Each child gets one “stop” during the story. This is a time when they say “Stop” to me, the storyteller, and the play comes to a halt. They can then change their part of the story. Maybe they don't want to do what I have just told. Other times they have a new idea. It doesn't matter. Again, I get to say yes to this new idea if at all possible. They cannot control others or their stories, only their own, and if the change involves someone else, they have to ask permission.

The story always begins the same way. “This is a story about.....” This is their introduction and is very important. Each character is announced, “This is the story about a ferocious Jaguar named Horizon who has wings and magical powers and lives with her best friend the Jaguar Horizon 2, who also has magical powers. It is also the story about “Tree-girl, who lives in the forest, and it is the story of two deer named Grasswind and her baby deer Rose, and it is the story about a dragon named Lava who shoots fire.” They love being acknowledged like this. Sometimes they will stand up and kind of bow to acknowledge their character. Another big Yes.

Once the story begins, they are required to go along with the story, (with the “stop” exception noted above.) I tell them what is happening, “The prince decided to go for a walk in the forest” and they do it. “He came upon a little house and knocked on the door.” (Knock knock) A princess opened the door and says “Hello” and the child repeats “Hello”. The prince said “Good day young lady, I am prince of the land and I am looking for my brother who appears to be lost.” The prince repeats these lines. She might reply “King Obe captured him and has taken him to his prison.” And so the story goes.

The principle is based on how children actually play with a little added structure. It is not performance. It is about being in the moment and exploring the imaginary world. If you observe children just playing, it is a very fluid process. Things transform constantly and the story evolves and moves all over the place, sometimes more than one story line going at a time. You will notice that the stronger personalities can dominate the course of the play. Their interpersonal dynamics are exposed and can be harsh and demanding. Feelings can get hurt, friendships developed or ended, at least for the moment. In GSP we are using this play pattern but we are focusing the story line and the action. They each have control of their own character and story, but they also have to go along with the general story too.

One young boy came in wanting to know what you called a man whose wife had died. He knew that a woman whose husband has died is called a widow. I told him that the man whose wife has died is called a widower. That's what he wanted to be, a widower. I asked if he wanted his wife's death to be part of the story that day. He said that he did, so the story began when the man's wife goes out to pick vegetables in the garden and does not come back. When he goes to see what has happened, he finds that a tree has fallen on her and she is dead. He is very sad and buries her in the garden. Then we went on with the rest of the story. It turned out that in his life, this boy's father and mother had just separated, with Dad moving out of the house and out of the area. I don't know that there is a specific connection between this character and the storyline and the drama in this child's life. It would seem so, but I don't really know or care. I know that he was deeply involved in the story that day, on his own terms and with my assistance. That's enough for me, and it certainly was enough for him.

The children love this class and it is remarkable to witness the progression of their characters and stories over time. One young girl came into the class and immediately wanted to be evil. She was usually a witch of some non-specific kind although sometimes she was very specific. She wanted to capture people and do mean things. The other children went right along with her and accepted this from her without question. Sometimes she would transform into good, but sometimes not.

Of course, in my stories, at the end, evil does not win, ever. There is always some kind of good ending. I feel this kind of exploration involving evil or darker influences, is developmentally appropriate. You can see this reflected in Grimm's fairytales, especially if you look at older editions, pre-Disney. You will find a curious mix of gruesome and bloody episodes, death and evil, exposing children to a range of experience across the spectrum of emotions. It is a way to have a glimpse of those emotions in a safe way. Children do this in their play all the time. They act out the adult world and the dramas that are happening around them. This is indeed part of 'saying yes' to what is important in their lives. I believe they are very aware of the darker side of things and need to be able to touch in to it. I'm not talking about horror or intense scary scenes, but in a contained context, like a fairy tale or a Guided Story Play, they crave to extend their experiences into the dark, to bring into light the hidden. They sense it, they know it is there, and, as the itinerant explorers they are, they want to go there and look around. It is thrilling in the same way many of us love roller coasters and spook houses. The key element for young children is consent because this breeds safety. It has to be at their initiative and to the exact level of emotion that they are comfortable with, and they are very good at letting you know exactly what that is if you are paying attention. If they feel coerced in any way, then the environment will not be safe and they will not be able to move through.

It is easy for adults to feel they need to be in control of everything. There is a culturally based distrust of the young, which breeds a general resistance to saying yes. What if they get carried away and I won't be able to stop them, or they will get out of control. It is true that unattended and ignored children do not do well. The idea that children all know how to play is not quite accurate. They are very clever and left to their own devices they will create their own structures and safety, but they also need our guidance. They pick this up through all their interactions with us, even down to the tiniest moments. They take those interactions and they try them out with each other. This is how they develop. What they need is to be exposed to an appropriate level of autonomy and empowerment with responsible, caring adults around them to set boundaries and manage the emotional environment.

This is why clear guidelines are essential so that they know what is ok and what is not. Some of this is positive, like that we share the costumes, the cloths, the electronics. Even the gold. We have some plastic gold pieces in a small purse. This comes in handy if someone wants to steal their gold, and then they get to recover it. At first one person would take all the gold and would not want to share. When they realize that they were expected to share the gold, they accepted that and would share. Now one of them will take the gold pieces and become the keeper of the gold and will pass it out to any one who wants it.

Sometimes the guidelines are restrictive, like we don't hit or hurt and that we can't do anything to anyone that they don't agree to. The basic principle is one of fairness and respect. Once they begin to realize that you are going to be fair to them and that one won't be allowed to dominate, they relax. This also frees them up to imagine what they want might want to do. Whatever it is there is a possibility that it can be acted out. Sometimes no one wants to be captured by the Prince because no one likes him today. In those instances, King Obe will often do it .Then I can say Yes.

My favorite thing is to watch a young child become more and more confidant about who they want to be each day. Sometimes they will walk in all excited to tell me who they will be. They have clearly been thinking about it and planning it for some time. The look of satisfaction and even joy with which they embrace these other parts of themselves is delightful and warms my heart.

The idea of including others in your story and asking their permission is part of a larger context of sharing that is an important part of the GSP experience. It is fundamentally a cooperative process. We are working together to create this fluid and precious space. Sometimes I will forget a particular part of a story. They always remind me. Even if I have come to “and that is the end of the story” they will say, “but you forgot the part where you try to capture me but I fly away up into a tree”. This happened yesterday in fact. The story had concluded with King Obe being trapped, for the second time, however this time, he could not get out, he was trapped forever. I had forgotten that Isabella wanted to be captured and rescued by her friend Sienna. They are very close. In fact, whatever Isabella is, Sienna is too. This day they were jaguars, ferocious jaguars named Horizon and Horizon 2. They often have the same name as well. The story was over, but Bella really wanted to finish her part, so I just said, “OK, well, King Obe gets out of the trap and on his way home, he runs into Horizon, the ferocious Jaguar. King Obe says, “Well hello there. You are certainly a beautiful and ferocious Jaguar, I am King Obe, I am very glad to meet you.” And the Jaguar says “Hello King Obe” and growls in a menacing way. “Oh what a beautiful Jaguar, I would love for you to come to my house and have some tea with me... I also have ice cream and candy.” “OK” says the jaguar Horizon. King Obe takes her to his palace. “Right over here” he says, “Just go down those stairs (King Obe's prison is under the piano, behind the piano bench.) The jaguar went down the stairs and was now in King Obe's prison. “Aha,” says King Obe, “I captured her. Hooray! Now I have my very own jaguar”. Meanwhile at home Horizon 2 realizes that her friend is gone. She sets out to look for her and after looking for hours, she comes upon King Obe's palace and hears a strange sound. It is Horizon howling. (Horizon howls). “Is that you?” says Horizon 2. Horizon howls “Yes”, so Horizon 2 finds the prison and using her magical powers, she rescues Horizon from the Evil King, and they return to their home. And that is the end of the Story. “ No problem.

I had a class recently of children who had been doing this process for quite a while. Some of them for a year. Their story telling had progressed and gotten a little more complicated and they became more insistent about wanting to change the story after we began. This is one of the areas where my structure is important and rather central to the success of the program. When children are just free playing with each other, the story line is continually changing as they build and expand on what they want to do. You will see them taking turns directing things and, you will see the more dominant personalities directing things more. It is extremely fluid. For my class this just won't work. We would never get to agreement and completion of the story. So, this restriction allows there to be a beginning, middle and end of the story. But here was this group that was wanting more control. One day they came in and I said, “Listen guys, I know you want to have more changes and tell more of the story, but if we don't limit it somehow, we will never finish a story. What do you think we should do? How could we make this work?” There was a short silence. One of the girls said, “How about we each get two stops.” I thought about it for a moment. “OK, good. Two stops then.” And it worked. They liked having more than one time to change things, and I knew that there was a limit that they would respect, and so I could relax. I also had to adjust the amount of set-up and play time. Starting the play sooner allows us to include the extra stops and still get everyone's story in with time left for clean-up. Our last story had 9 stops.

After the story it is clean up time. In the past, and in other contexts, this is sometimes a problem. Someone or other does not want to clean up or no one wants to clean up.. They want to keep playing, or they want to leave, whatever. In this context though, clean up seems to just flow out what we have been doing without the least resistance. Very quickly the costumes and clothes are back in boxes, the electronics are in their boxes, the ropes are back in the rope bag and they are ready to leave. Perhaps it is because they have just spent an hour in a world that they love, bathing in Yes and affirmed by their own imaginations. I don't know. It doesn't really matter.