Category: Creativity

Dot, my little scientist, is curious about everything that captures her attention. Her inquisitive eyes sweep across quickly and spot things that we do not see – so sharp is her sight. She lays her hands to touch and feel things that stir her curiosity. She hits something with another object to hear what sound it produces. She smells some of the leaves like mint, pandan leaves and basil.

Dot is out and about every weekday morning. We travel by bus to my parents’ place. Then we walk about 15 to 30 minutes to her place – this is the time where my little keen scientist is at work.

When she is on her feet, she runs off to examine anything that captures her interest. She is allowed to roam freely within certain range with minimum intervention, unless safety is compromised.

Along the way, she will pick up some berries, flowers, dried leaves and branches that fall by the wayside. With the berries in her hands, she will say, “Feed the birds” and she will go lookout for the birds. Sometimes she will pick the branches and hit the metal structure to produce sound and happily says, “Drum.”

Children see the world on a different level from us. Get down to your children’s level and take a look at what they see. A fresh and different perspective.

She loves to share her exciting discovery with me and I will take the opportunity to share with her more about what she has discovered. I will also point out familiar and unfamiliar things around. “Look at the tree, flowers, leaves!”, “Dot, can you see the cocoons?” or “Wow! Look at what we find here. A beetle.”

Recently we spotted a few insects along the way. These were our unexpected finds. (see images on the right)

As I learn to slow down my pace to adjust to Dot’s, I rediscover the sense of wonder through her eyes. Here I am, learning to learn again.