The Art of Teaching: Freedom Within Form

The Mess Is Where The Magic Happens

Parenting and teaching during a child’s early years is less about instruction and more about the quiet art of walking the line between creativity and chaos.

In this video, one of my students is completely enlivened within her process - singing about a rainy day as she splatters paint across the paper. During this activity I was aware of my own internal “adult” voice: “The water is splashing and spilling. Her mama might not love paint all over that white shirt. The watercolors are getting all mixed together.”

But to interrupt this magical child’s experience would have been to break a sacred spell.

Doing the Inner Work

As parents and educators, we must be deeply in tune with our own sensitivities so we don’t project them onto the children in our care. Staying present requires deep inner work - putting down our phones, silencing our own “OCD” tendencies, and engaging with openness and patience. Our role is to be a steady presence in the background, allowing space for exploration, imagination, and the messy beauty of childhood.

Catching the Tipping Point

In a classroom of twenty-four children, I learned to feel the energy rise. There is a tipping point where play can spill over into anarchy. The secret isn’t a harsh “no,” but a gentle “bringing in.”

During indoor play, the resonance of a singing bowl or a simple, “I spy with my little eye…” can act as magic to get the children’s attention, followed by the invitation of three deep breaths or a few “whispering minutes” to settle the room.

On the playground, wrestling is healthy until it shifts from fun play to a power play. You can feel the energy shift and see it in their eyes. So right at that moment, a quick, “Ding, ding, ding! Wrestlers to your corner of the ring!” provides the pause and breathing room needed to reset and tend to emotions before it gets out of control. 

With my little watercolor artist, I did draw a loving boundary before she tipped the bowl of water over her head simply by suggesting that: “We don’t wish for a flood on this rainy day!” Creativity remained and chaos was contained.

A Reverence for the Process

Teaching requires full presence, intuitive ability, and a deep reverence for the fleeting magic of the early years. When we protect that space for exploration, we honor the profound way a child meets - and is met - by the world.

The mess is where the magic happens. We just have to be brave enough to let it flow, and present enough to help channel it.