Today, I decided to teach Oliver how to play curling. It's my dream for him to be an Olympic champion.
*cough*
OK, no, I just decided to let Oliver sweep the kitchen. I, like most Americans I know, do not know the rules for curling.
I have two brooms. Why do I need two brooms? Because I have a toddler who likes to do whatever Mommy and Daddy does. So, every day, when I take out the broom and dust pan, Oliver gets excited and wants to sweep, too. I let him, but it involves him scattering the pile of debris every which way. Sweeping takes a long time. Well, today, Oliver was playing with his pom-poms, and I had a great idea. Why not let him practice sweeping with those? They're big, so he can see them, and they looked fun to push around with a broom.
And, so, I taught Oliver to scatter the pom-poms all over the floor (that can't backfire later, right?). Then, I handed him one of the brooms and told him he could sweep the pom-poms into the dust pan. He looked so eager and excited! He took the broom and got to work:
After a few minutes, he decided that the broom made his job more difficult, so he ditched it in favor of his hands:
He seemed to enjoy the task, but it didn't last for very long. Once he had most of the pom-poms in the dust pan, he decided he'd rather they went into the ice cream maker. He enjoyed mixing them with his dried pasta and then separating them back out again. So, Oliver had fun, but the activity I'd invented wasn't the real winner. I still think it's creative, and I like that it's free, but Oliver just wasn't that interested in pretend sweeping. Pretend sweeping, or "Curling," as I jokingly named this activity, earns a C.
