I’m taking care of this clay…

There have been many examples of the children taking care of things throughout the day.

During the end of a recent morning, Mark began to clean up the clay table. Ellie was nearby and observed what Mark was doing. She then took over for him as he moved on to a new area. Jamie soon noticed what Ellie was doing and he, too, joined in the clean up and caring of this material.

It's dirty in there.
I'm taking care of this clay.
It's gonna be so heavy (the bag of clay).
They wash their hands in the tub of water.
We did it!

On another day, as Diane began to clean up the watercolor paints, Jamie and Elliot noticed and brought all of the brushes and glasses of water over to the sink. They each walked slowly and carefully with the materials, despite obstacles along the way, including each other. In this moment, both boys, neither of them three years old yet, are demonstrating their knowledge that care is needed in the handling of certain materials, especially the glass jars.

Once the table is cleaned off, Jamie fixes one of the chairs that has been knocked down during the morning's activities.

Jamie: I just tipped this back up.

The following video shows Jack in a dilemma. He is pulling a wagon around the playground and he has come upon a line of cones that Jamie has set up, blocking his path. Jamie and others often set these cones up around the playground, indicating that the road is closed. The line of cones sends a message to others to find another route in their play. Jack is unaware that he is being watched and we wonder,

Will he find a way to take care of Jamie's 'road is closed', Jamie's play plan, and most importantly, Jamie?

In this final example, we come upon a familiar scene in Studio Blue. Wesley is sitting down at the goodbye window, just having waved to his mom and he is crying a bit. Wesley tells Diane, I'm sad.

Jack notices and comes over.

Jack: Wesley is crying, right?...Him want his mom.

Jack to Wesley: You want your mom, right? But, Wesley...Wesley... You're ok.

Jack bends down and leans in, very close to Wesley,
Mom be back soon. You'll see her at pick up...for you!

Wesley is still feeling sad. Jack remains by his side, looking at him and thinking of a way to help him to feel better.

Jack: Me know! Ice! But me have a really frozen ice. Britton hit me...then me cried and then me got the ice pack. That was mean. Then me went in my room.

Jack walks off and gets his clipboard. He comes back with it and again, bends down right next to Wesley as he takes his pencil into his hand, ready to mark his paper.
Jack: You want Mommy, right Wesley?

Wesley soon gets up and gets his own clipboard down from the hook. He sits down on the floor and uses his pencil to make marks on his paper, eventually explaining,
I’m writing something down. That monster. Those two monsters. One on the back. And one on the front.

With Jack's help, Wesley is happy now and continues on with his day.


Our image of the child is rich in potential, strong, powerful, competent and, most of all, connected to adults and other children.

-Loris Malaguzzi