The pavement pose

… or the sidewalk stance.

Children can be very focused on their feet as they walk, perhaps because its a lot closer to them than us. It takes some time to adjust to their ways, but the perspective they give is so cool. Pavements take on a texture of their own when studied, and play ensues.

You will need
a 5-10 minute walk
20 miuntes to do it in

Tie shoelaces, put arms through coats, hold hands and set off out your door. As you walk you’ll spy telephone line covers, water pipe access holes and other oddities along the not so pristine pavement. Jump on one together and do a pose; perhaps if its a small lid its a one-legged-kung-fu-kid-crane pose, perhaps its a ballerina-style first position. But remember the pose for that type of lid, as next time you see it it’ll be repeated. Ensure you’ve firmly excluded covers in the actual road itself, and continue on to the next pavement-pad. Have two or three poses to match the street-scape, and then start getting them wrong so you have to be reminded by the tikes.

At the beginning this does protract the journey, but if you hone your skills this could - though I’ve never really experienced it my default setting is now ‘amble’ - become an incentive to move on along the pavement; particularly if its a nice quite street and you can trust them off the hand for a moment or two.

Not only does this give a little framed trust to the children, and a little power as you make your mistakes; but it starts to instil some basic road safety, as you stick to the pathway.

tag... play for today, 3up, out and about