{RAISING CURIOUSLY CREATIVE, WONDER-FULL KIDS TO CHANGE THE WORLD // OUR WONDERSPACES ADVENTURE #VISITPHILLY...}

i’ve been scaling things back lately. every weight that holds me back in any way and keeps us from realizing the dreams of our hearts. so many things. rethinking the why’s and hows of everything we’ve been putting our hands to over the years in homeschool and life. all constantly shifting my focus and bringing me back to our core intentions of raising curiously creative, wonder-fuLLy compassionate, faith filled, love walking kids.

thats the work.

the work of protecting and nurturing their sense of wonder.

the work I believe will change their world.

Wonder: (noun) “A feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by some- thing beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar”1; desire to know something thor- oughly; (verb) to feel curious and engage in imagination.

“THE POINT IS TO GET YOUR WORK DONE AND YOUR WORK IS TO CHANGE THE WORLD.”

— JAMES BALDWIN

we’ve been trying to make our way to WONDERSPACES for a whlle now. while children’s museums and amusement parks may be the wave for others, open spaces with a steady pace, calming environments and interactive art installations are more our speed. experiences that are thought provoking, less about entertainment and more about WONDER!!!

i’ve found that creativity begins with WONDER and is fueled by the fire that curiosity provides. it is the thing that i am asked most often “how do you raise kids to be more creative?” i’ve found creativity not to be an end result set by our own finite imaginations, but rather an outlook you cultivate, a perspective that you help shape and an innate sense of WONDER that you resolve to keep alive.

i’ve learned to do a few things that help keep the wonder alive in our lives. starting w/ recognizing that I have the power to SLOW THINGS DOWN!

#1- SET THE PACE & PURPOSE TO SLOW THINGS DOWN

setting the pace for myself, my kids, my family… has always been the first step in giving space to a WONDERFULL life. this world moves fast and quick. a whirlwind of thoughts, ideas, emotions, impulses and decisions. how easy it is to get caught up in the storm of life and miss the beauty that surround us.

the first piece of art we encountered at WONDERSPACES PHILADELPHIA was…

human study #1, 3rnp by patrick tressant where the human becomes an actor taking the sitter's role to be sketched by three robots. the drawings become part of another artwork titled the collection which includes more than 36,000 drawings. 

which brings me to the second thing we’ve learned…

#2- GIVE THEM SPACE TO OBSERVE // & PLENTY OF FREE TIME TO WONDER

observation, consideration and freedom to explore is a lost art. but, it’s a necessary element of creating wonder-full experiences in life. making room by giving them time to consider their own thoughts and not my own, is key. i’ve learned to share my thoughts and feelings without projecting and offering them up as their own. then i give them room to do the same.

i also make them stop and take pictures whenever possible. then we add our memories to scrapbooks, yearbooks, letters to family and friends. this part is not their favorite but soon enough they’ll understand, lol.

SUBMERGENCE Squidsoup is an immersive installation comprised of 8,064 individual points of light visitors walk through. the lights continually change colors in correspondence to music. 

and hands down my favorite. there is an essence to life that is felt and experienced rather than spoken or explained. i want them to explore that essence and incline their hearts and minds to that very thing beyond the weight and the worries of the world. SUBMERGENCE was a beautiful example of this very thing.

to teach this we…

#3-DOCUMENT // USING CAMERAS, DRAWING & PAINTING, BINOCULARS, JOURNALS ETC.

documenting their experiences & their findings helps them learn to change their perspective. to adjust the way they see things. the ability to see a box beyond its current state is creativity in its most basic & brilliant form. to WONDER all that this box could become, the possibilities that a simple box offers to the world is key and it all begins with WONDER.

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”

— Rachel Carson

BODY PAINT Memo Akten

Playing on our natural instinct to express ourselves through movement and dance, BodyPaint interprets our physical gestures into evolving compositions. Body Paint is about interaction experience, captured through this motion and the energy of the body.

wonder must be interactive… i wish i had more words to express my feelings here. the connection between energy, motion, wonder and creativity… but, again, i’m having trouble finding the words. we loved this installation.

“WHEN YOU REPLACE JUDGEMENT WITH CURIOSITY, EVERTHING CHANGES.”

— ROBYN CONLEY DOWNS

{ somehow, we’ve become so quick to pass judgment in moments where we should give voice to our curiosities. wondering if QUESTIONS could lead to CAREFUL CONSIDERATION and if those careful considerations quite possibly could lead to COMPASSIONATE ANSWERS ?????

just wondering… }

COME TOGETHER Michael Murphy

Come Together is a symbol of the power of collectivity. The artwork depicts the raised fist of Michael Murphy’s girlfriend at the Women’s March in early 2017.

THE LAST WORD Illegal Art

The Last Word is an invitation to share thoughts left unsaid. Thousands of tightly rolled pieces of paper, dyed red on one end and left untouched on the other offer an opportunity to anonymously complete your conversations or explore the unexpressed sentiments of others.

#4 ENCOURAGE THIER CURIOSITIES W/ A “BIG BOOK OF QUESTIONS”…

this one is so incredibly simple and yet so often overlooked. learning to speak the phrase “I WONDER…” opens the door to coloring their curiosities with their own shade of paint.

“i wonder who…”

“i wonder what…”

“i wonder when…”

“i wonder why…”

“i wonder where,,,”

“i wonder how…”

these statements establish their own personal sense of wonder.

DAYDREAM v2 NONOTAK Studio

Daydream v2 is an audiovisual installation that distorts space, blurring the lines between what is digital and what is real. The piece transports visitors into a new dimension, making them feel as if they are being teleported into another world.

ahhhhh to day dream!!! take those statements of wonder and build a book of questions as you collect them. then make it your mission to explore and discover any answers to those questions.

THANK YOU BAGS Reed van Brunschot

Playing with scale as it invites visitors to consider the overuse of plastic and its environmental impact, Thank You Bags reclaims a generic yet iconic symbol of mass consumerism and the excesses of capitalism through two enormous fabric sculptures, filled to capacity with nothing.

this installation was incredibly thought provoking to me. while the artist considers consumerism and the environmental impact of excessive plastic, i cant help but think of the wasteland in education. thinking of all the things we often fill their bags to capacity with a ‘nothingness’ often leaving little room for wonder, curiosities, creativity, innovation, purposeful knowledge and the wisdom that will sustain.

we enjoyed our time at WONDERSPACES PHILADELPHIA, considering the massive role that our sence of WONDER plays in our homeschool and lives and thought i would share.

with all the love,

syreena

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