Approaching the kindergarten, I was apprehensive. We’d spent the past few weeks preparing for this initial visit of ours, and I had already been struggling (arts and crafts are not my strong point… it took me an hour to learn the activity, a little origami snake, we were supposed to be teaching the 5-year-olds today). I’m typically not great with kids and had no idea whether or not I would be able to even interact with them successfully, much less be able to teach them.
Turns out, my fears were completely unfounded. Yes, the arts and craft activities were still incredibly difficult (I needed help making my paper snake), but I found myself connecting with the kids quite easily. We were each sitting at one particular table, and, for whatever reason, I got along with everyone at mine instantly. Not sure if I can name names, so I won’t, but there was one 5-year-old boy in particular that I ended up getting along with pretty well. He would ask me a ton of questions about what I did in my school, and I’d ask him about his school activities as well. He even helped me in communicating with the others!
What this has taught me is the importance one needs to place in having an open mind. Again, I was absolutely terrified (and hesitant) to sign up for this activity in the first place, and again, during the bus ride to the place. Yet, I ended up really enjoying my time there and getting a chance to actually develop my inter-personal skills. Another important asset is patience. The origami is difficult (at least, it is for me), and took me time to learn. Yet, the pay-off was worth it.
Going forward, I really want to challenge myself and take some more time to think of and engage with arts and crafts. Not only is it going to be useful for future sessions, but I might also end up finding another hobby that I’ll really enjoy.
