Looking for something to do out back with your kids this spring? Derek sent me a cool article from Japan that describes in detail how to make hikaru dorodango, i.e., "balls of mud that shine." Here's Derek:
"This is an old story, but I thought you might like it (or find it as humorous as I do). It's about a Japanese professor who is focused on how to make "balls of mud that shine" and their role in understanding childhood development. He also developed a scale for grading the balls' luster. And you think academics are depressed? Nonsense!"
Why would a lump of mud shine? Kayo became taken with this question and tried to outdo the preschool teacher. But after trying many times, Kayo found that he just could not make a shiny mud ball. Once, he thought he had succeeded, but after a few days the mud ball lost its luster. Through 200 failed experiments and an analysis using an electron microscope, Kayo was finally able to devise a method of making dorodango that could be followed by anyone, including children.
Now I have to say that the story made me laugh, too, but only because of this:
In the process of making dorodango, the children demonstrated behavior that was surprising from the perspective of developmental psychology. A two-year-old child would walk behind Kayo, imitating his actions. At three, children would come up beside him and snatch his dirt. Four and five year olds pretended to ignore him out of pride, but afterwards they could be seen working with determined expressions on their faces. Children could also be found sharing information about where to find the best dirt and sand for making dorodango or even sometimes keeping such information secret.
Exactly what is "surprising" here? Are no Japanese developmental psychologists, um, parents? (ADDED: J. D. Carriere suggests, "Well, with Japan's birth rate below 1.3, um, probably not." Good point.)
In the field of developmental psychology up to now, play that developed children's imagination and creativity, such as role playing and drawing, was deemed important. But Professor Kayo is searching for whether developmental psychology has overlooked something very important: the experimentation children undertake in everyday activities like eating, getting dressed, and sleeping. He feels that making shiny mud balls is a good way of searching for the essence of children's play.
Maybe this is the journalist's fault, you never know. But I really, really, really hope that "developmental psychology" has not gotten so far off track that it has forgotten that children like to make things out of mud. And I really, really, really hope that "developmental psychology" has not forgotten that children learn and develop through "everyday activities." It's not like there aren't any Montessori schools in Japan!
By now, the concept that "practical life" learning -- learning to prepare food, clean up, use tools, dress themselves -- is at least as important to the preschool as crafts, letters, numbers -- is so ingrained in me that I never even think about it. Making little balls of mud that shine may not seem terribly useful, but clearly (from the descriptions in the article) the little balls are beautiful things to the children who make them. "Practical life" traditionally includes such activities as arranging flowers and polishing silver; it surely includes the making of little treasures like these.
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