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| Little man with big meaning. He made it himself |
On Thursday when I was not at school, my student Jack was looking for me. A foot had come loose on his little toy man he had finished on Wednesday, and it had to be fixed. Fortunately, his main teacher had a hammer and was able to come to the rescue. She told me that he plays with it constantly, as I could see for myself. At the time, Jack was in the volleyball court with it, digging and burying his little man only to pull him up again and again triumphantly from the sand. I was watching a symbolic resurrection drama taking place in his hands and mind.
How can a thing crudely made be so full of meaning? But the loveliness and power of it comes from his having made it himself. If you've not made something yourself, try making something and see if you can discover what I mean.
The following is a brief excerpt from my new book
Making Classic Toys that Teach, and may help to explain:
Mademoiselle Albertine Necker de
Saussure wrote the following in the early
1800s: “It is a matter of surprise to some,
that children are satisfied with the rudest
imitations. They are looked down upon
for their want of feeling for art, while they
should rather be admired for the force
of imagination that renders such illusion
possible. Mold a lump of wax into a figure
or cut one out of paper, and, provided it
has something like legs and arms and a
rounded piece for a head, it will be a man
in the eyes of the child. This man will last
for weeks; the loss of a limb or two will
make no difference; and he will fill every
part you choose to make him play. The
child does not see the imperfect copy, but
only the model in his own mind. The wax
figure is to him only a symbol on which
he does not dwell. No matter though the
symbol be ill chosen and insignificant; the
young spirit penetrates the veil, arrives at
the thing itself, and contemplates it in its
true aspect. Too exact imitations of things
undergo the fate of the things themselves,
of which the child soon tires. He admires
them, is delighted with them, but his
imagination is impeded by the exactness of
their forms, which represent one thing only;
and how is he to be contented with one
amusement? A toy soldier fully equipped
is only a soldier; it can not represent his
father or any other personage. It would
seem as if the young mind felt its originality
more strongly when, under the inspiration
of the moment, it puts all things in
requisition, and sees, in everything around,
the instruments of its pleasure. A stool
turned over is a boat, a carriage; set on
its legs it becomes a horse or a table; a
bandbox becomes a house, a cupboard, a
wagon—anything. You should enter into his
ideas, and, even before the time for useful
toys, should provide the child with the
means of constructing for himself, rather
than with things ready made.”
I had a simple breakthrough during the week with a new high school student who had been unwilling to express himself. He began asking questions in wood shop, and I learned he was taking a more open attitude in his other classes as well. I wood shop, he wanted to know why a shaker box would be made in one way, and not another. I suggested he try his own method, and he did, learning for himself the efficiency of traditional methods.What comes next? We will see. I overheard some of the high schools students telling each other that wood shop is their favorite subject, and I don't think it was because they thought I might hear.
Today I'll work on the text for the Fine Woodworking article on hinges, and power wash the deck in preparation for staining.
Make, fix, create, and demonstrate for others the potential in learning likewise.
