Unschooling Blog, Vol. 35 - “TOURNAMENT!” (improvised game makes play fun for son *and* dad!)
Spectators watch as the action unfolds on the platform!
Play is for dads, too.
It is often tough for me to really “get into” playing when my son wants to play Legos. He has so many vivid storylines in his head that I must go along with in order for the play to progress that I often become restless. Not to mention, this vivid imagination shows itself to be a challenge for the less vivid and more “blocky” adult mind of “dad.”
This isn’t to say I’m some kind of old codger with no imagination, but just that as adults we are focused on different things, and it’s often tough to get back to that place where play is all-enveloping. That is how it should be, too, as play is the means by which children learn, and as adults, we’ve (hopefully) already learned a lot.
Anyway, today my son and I came up with a Lego-based game that we both really got into. We called it, simply, “TOURNAMENT!”
TOURNAMENT!
Here’s the tournament brackets all laid out.
As you can see in the image above, we started with some tournament brackets. This was a great chance to teach my son what “brackets” are and how a tournament works. He already somewhat understood the concept, I think, from playing video games. By the end, though, his understanding of the process was very clear.
He understood the order of operations, and how the guys waiting to start the semi-finals on one side, couldn’t start until the semi-final contestants had already been decided on the other side of the brackets as well.
None of this was planned “as a lesson.” It happened naturally because I just thought it would be fun to have a tournament, and he agreed when he felt my genuine enthusiasm in pitching the idea.
Here’s a video of the first round. The goal is to not fall off of the rolling platform. For me, this was actually very engaging!
”The Platform.”
The anticipation mounts!
The cop robot judge giving the go signal.
The losers of the earlier rounds become the spectators and cheer on their favorite contestants.
Semi-finals and Finals.
I explained to Isaiah that “semi” means half, and told him about things like semi-circles. Again, no silly “lesson plan” was needed. Learning myriad and diversely interconnected topics just happens, because learning is play and play is learning. And now, he’s not going to forget “semi,” because it has a real, rubber-meets-road meaning for him, and we were having a great time!
The Finals!!!!!!
The finals! A true David and Goliath matchup!
And the winner is....
BOMB-HEY!!! In an unprecedented upset of epic proportions!!!!!!
Bomb-Hey, showered in riches and glory as he prepares to ride the platform out of the stadium, reveling in waves of roaring adulation and praise from the crowd of thousands.
Well, that’s all there is to it. No "lessons." Just play.
Peace!
(Thanks for stopping by. If you missed the last installment of Unschooling Blog, Vol. 34: “JIYUU! FREEDOM! (My experiments with giving my son total freedom) Episode 1,” you can find that HERE. Please upvote and resteem if this post was valuable to you!)
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)
Was just talking to one of my students today, who was complaining about how her daughter is so strict with her grandson, who is 8, forcing him to study all the time and go to juku and never giveing him any free play time. Such a travesty. I told her how her daughter should be doing it, and this is a great example of exactly what I was talking about. I think this post will be my lesson plan for her next week.
It really is a travesty. I hope she gets something out of the article. Thanks!
@kafkanarchy84 wonderful post. no doubt playing games is useful for everyone.
I love this! Never let your inner child die. Keeping things light and fun is one of the pleasures of life.
Our children look at us as role models. Parents need guide children through games too.
When you play along with them is when they aporeciate. Thank you for teaching your child
This is so true. Thank you for your comment.
Yeah
Well done for unschooling buddy. I don't understand how anyone would want their kids going to the government training camps these days.
Who wants a 'cookie cutter ' kid with no ability to apply critical thinking and be denied the chance to have a bit of fun while they are learning.
Good on ya mate.
Thanks a lot. Agree 100%!
This is a good blog. Nice work. 👌
Just watched on TV the final of the Lego building contest in the UK. The winning lifesized model was great: worried-looking Dad sitting at a (working) typewriter while his happy kid plays with Lego on the floor. Wonderful concept and execution. Go Lego!
That’s an awesome concept!
Teaching like this will make learning enjoyable....at the same time it develops a bonding between the player....undoubtly it will help to make a gud bonding between a father and a son...if a father become a gud friend it will give a gud element to the relationship.... gud step ...keep it up....
Thank you.
Welcome friend
fantastic post my friend, at first i thought that baby koopa gonna win this one but mario hold it so tightly so in the end he wins haha really enjoy your post friend and no doubt it's great to play games with childrens and the big benefit is that children starting to feel strong and confident as they think that there parents give them proper attention and it's also great learning process as the children learn more by touching and playing, Stay happy and awesome my friend and thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much, my friend. It was a good match! :)
Wow great job friend, very good methods to teach new things with examples. In this way you had also enjoyed the fun with your son. A home is a seeds ground where child can establish his strong base of thinking and observation. Thanks for sharing such a valuable message to the people. Thanks
So true.