Bugs, and Airplanes, and Boats, OH MY!
Lisa and Rick Bursey had gotten used to insects being brought to their offices by the children at the home. “COVID-19, while initially caused a lot of boredom, has now really sparked creativity,” shared Lisa. In their down time between teacher-led crafts, the children explored the areas around their homes. They picked up insects and kept them in breathable containers – observing what they saw and how long they survived. Then, they started bringing spiders to them, and when a small black one came around, Lisa and Rick put a stop to the spider hunts for everyone’s safety!
“We didn’t want their creativity to stop with insect hunts, though,” shared Lisa Bursey, Co-Director of the children’s home. “We’re encouraged they’re looking for things to do and not just staying inside and stagnant.” The children went from insect hunts to paper-airplane designers.
Then, paper airplanes turned into boats to float across the small pool in their backyard. After a few days of this trial and error, Lisa invited some friendly competition. “Can anyone make a boat strong enough to carry coins across the pool?” she asked one day. The response to her question was unanimous – everyone wanted to be the architect of the boat who carried the coins across!
They looked up designs and tried various ones to see what would work, but all came to the same conclusion rather quickly: paper boats ruin fast in water. The children started brainstorming what would work better in water than paper? Wood! They went to Rick Bursey, Co-Director of the home, and asked him for help building wooden boats. “We have a lot of leftover wood pieces in the shed on the property,” shared Lisa. “Rick was happy and excited to help them construct basic boats from wood, and then the children added their own personal touches afterwards.” The girls in the home are also taking their own creative initiatives by making clothing, caps, and shoes for their dolls from materials around the house.
“They’re really in their own worlds of creativity,” said Lisa. “They’re not constantly asking the adults what they can do, they’re just finding things to do and doing them!”
So many things are different in the day-to-day at Back2Back’s partnering children’s homes, but faithful sponsorship helps ensure some things stay the same – they will always have safe space to explore and try new things, with the support of safe adults at every turn. Thank you for investing in the time and space for each child to express their creativity!