As I've mentioned, I am no stranger to little kids, so I have discovered various ways to keep children entertained. Obviously, they are not all the same, but some things tend to work across the board. Ice cream, for example, has magical powers of attention-grabbing, but should only be used in very, very small doses. New toys are similar in nature; expect a mini-mob should you open one in the sight lines of a little kid.
The other day, for example, I kept a bunch of kids entertained my turning the display of my phone on and off. Yes, there are far more interesting things that you can do with a smart phone, but most little kids won't be able to handle that kind of functionality. So, I kept it simple. I showed them the blank screen, and then I turned it on. I then waited a couple of seconds, and then turned it off. I made sure to say the words "on" and "off" so that they got the general concept, but the delight was clearly in the fact that the screen would flash on and off. I very quickly had a couple of three year olds and a couple of one year olds enthralled. The older ones even figured out where the button was, so they got a couple of turns turning the device's display on and off.
Satisfied that my phone had served its purpose, I put my phone away by sticking it in my pocket. The older kids had already moved on to the next game, so I figured it was fine. One of the younger two, on the other hand, had not had his fill of the magic screen. Frankly, what came next surprised me.
I had made no effort to hide the fact that I had put the phone in my pocket, so everyone who really cared knew exactly where the phone was. Since that included a very clever one year old, he started trying to extract the phone from my pocket. I don't mean that he just started poking me and whining; no, that would've been too simple.
I had a sweatshirt on, so the bottom of that sweatshirt was covering up the opening to my pant pockets. The very first thing he did was to flip up the bottom of my sweatshirt so that my pocket was exposed. Seriously, it took him all of about half a second to decide that this was the best course of action. Either his parents had been giving him secret pickpocket training at home, or he had thought ahead. Either way, I was just a tad surprised. On the other hand, I was also curious to see what the heck he was up to.
Well, he was trying to get at my pocket, so he started trying to reach for it. However, he had the motor skills of a one year old, so this was not a precision assault. No, instead he poked me in the belly button. It was funny, but that also gave him enough information to realize that I was not hiding anything in my gut (a la this guy). So, he started poking at my thigh, since he logically deduced that would be the next likely spot. Or maybe his motor skills kicked in at that point. All I know is that he was getting closer to his desired target at a very noticeable pace. I stopped him before he actually got very far (being groped by a one year old is not my idea of fun), but I was definitely surprised by his deductive reasoning and his approach.
Then, the story got even better. I wandered off to handle some other tasks around the house. Since the kids were otherwise occupied, I also sat down at my laptop for a good half hour or so. I was taking care of a few tasks, and also catching up on my reading. Eventually, I wandered back into the general play area, and greeted the kids again.
The one year old ran up to me, and flipped up the bottom of my sweatshirt again. Holy crap, he remembered.
I hadn't actually stopped him, I had only temporarily inconvenienced him. In fact, the fact that he did so without hesitation means that he knew exactly what he was trying to do. This was no fluke, I was staring down one very, very determined toddler.
I actually didn't end up letting him play with my phone, but the sheer fact that he went directly to my pocket astounded me. I think my "be nice to these people in case they take over the world" list just grew by one. That, and I'm going to have a keep a very close eye on my pockets, just in case his parents really are teaching him to be a pickpocket.
The other day, for example, I kept a bunch of kids entertained my turning the display of my phone on and off. Yes, there are far more interesting things that you can do with a smart phone, but most little kids won't be able to handle that kind of functionality. So, I kept it simple. I showed them the blank screen, and then I turned it on. I then waited a couple of seconds, and then turned it off. I made sure to say the words "on" and "off" so that they got the general concept, but the delight was clearly in the fact that the screen would flash on and off. I very quickly had a couple of three year olds and a couple of one year olds enthralled. The older ones even figured out where the button was, so they got a couple of turns turning the device's display on and off.
Satisfied that my phone had served its purpose, I put my phone away by sticking it in my pocket. The older kids had already moved on to the next game, so I figured it was fine. One of the younger two, on the other hand, had not had his fill of the magic screen. Frankly, what came next surprised me.
I had made no effort to hide the fact that I had put the phone in my pocket, so everyone who really cared knew exactly where the phone was. Since that included a very clever one year old, he started trying to extract the phone from my pocket. I don't mean that he just started poking me and whining; no, that would've been too simple.
I had a sweatshirt on, so the bottom of that sweatshirt was covering up the opening to my pant pockets. The very first thing he did was to flip up the bottom of my sweatshirt so that my pocket was exposed. Seriously, it took him all of about half a second to decide that this was the best course of action. Either his parents had been giving him secret pickpocket training at home, or he had thought ahead. Either way, I was just a tad surprised. On the other hand, I was also curious to see what the heck he was up to.
Well, he was trying to get at my pocket, so he started trying to reach for it. However, he had the motor skills of a one year old, so this was not a precision assault. No, instead he poked me in the belly button. It was funny, but that also gave him enough information to realize that I was not hiding anything in my gut (a la this guy). So, he started poking at my thigh, since he logically deduced that would be the next likely spot. Or maybe his motor skills kicked in at that point. All I know is that he was getting closer to his desired target at a very noticeable pace. I stopped him before he actually got very far (being groped by a one year old is not my idea of fun), but I was definitely surprised by his deductive reasoning and his approach.
Then, the story got even better. I wandered off to handle some other tasks around the house. Since the kids were otherwise occupied, I also sat down at my laptop for a good half hour or so. I was taking care of a few tasks, and also catching up on my reading. Eventually, I wandered back into the general play area, and greeted the kids again.
The one year old ran up to me, and flipped up the bottom of my sweatshirt again. Holy crap, he remembered.
I hadn't actually stopped him, I had only temporarily inconvenienced him. In fact, the fact that he did so without hesitation means that he knew exactly what he was trying to do. This was no fluke, I was staring down one very, very determined toddler.
I actually didn't end up letting him play with my phone, but the sheer fact that he went directly to my pocket astounded me. I think my "be nice to these people in case they take over the world" list just grew by one. That, and I'm going to have a keep a very close eye on my pockets, just in case his parents really are teaching him to be a pickpocket.
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