At the children’s school I had the opportunity to observe children of all three age groups (3s, 4s, Kindergarten). The youngest kids were learning to count, while the oldest kids were doing activities where they counted on their own with a visual aid.

Keeping the youngest group’s attention for an extended period of time was a challenge. The teachers had to sing to keep their attention, but the kids wouldn’t really sing along. The kids took great interest in tapping sticks together, but they had to be sequestered to mats to keep them from running around and hitting each other. I take from this that music could have the potential to grab their interest.

The older kids enjoyed building things and pretending toys were alive. When all of the kids were outside, they all seemed to enjoy running around with capes and pretending to be super heroes. This demonstrates that kids love to make believe.

I think the key to “making things magic” will be giving the children an object that they can either make believe with or create something with. I believe this because the most powerful tool at our disposal is the children’s imagination.