Greetings and Happy Midweek!
As we start a new month, and for many a new school year or work routine - with not a little stress as new schedules and environments are encountered, I thought it’d be interesting (and maybe even fun!) to explore some cultural aspects of...sandboxes! This topic ties in nicely with a former post on “Child’s Play” (1/20/21) and delves into other possible cultural ‘applications’ through the lens of Global SKILLs’ PROACTive learning strategies.*
Culturally I would propose, speaking from experience raising my sons in a rural village in Senegal (where sand was in abundance - everywhere!), that kids worldwide benefit from having safe spaces in a natural environment where they can play, pretend, build, invent, interact and just plain have fun. Historically as a documented object of child’s ‘play’ for kids who were growing up away from natural surroundings, sandboxes were used in progressive western educational contexts in the mid-19th century and eventually adapted for broader use in public and private spaces.**
And so, cross-culturally, I am reflecting today on how the sandy adventures of kids in Africa and the equally sandy adventures of kids in sandboxes where-ever they are found, help stimulate and encourage little ones to build, interact and just plain have a good time, individually and together in a safe, set apart space. And by extension, I think folks of any age would be so lucky - to take advantage of figurative sandbox applications and opportunities to share the same kinds of creative, culturally diverse experiences.
How about you ~ what is one cultural sandbox experience you have had?
Share about that with a friend or note it here.
And check out Global SKILLs LINKs below for several fascinating examples of sandbox applications!
Until next week,
Betsy
* PROACTive Learning Strategies: PROfile, PROcess, PROgram and ACT - Applications, Collaboration and Transitions
~ contact me for more information on these strategies and how you might use them in your current programming
** More on sandbox history
Global SKILLs LINKs
~ as we all continue to adapt to pandemic impacts, one “sandbox” experiment in Thailand might prove more widely applicable: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/thailand-phuket-sandbox-model-asia-cmd/index.html
~ a formal business application - who would have thought sandboxes could be so ‘productive’! https://www.empowerafrica.com/regulatory-sandboxes-in-africa/
2021 ~ Celebrating 40 years of working in
intercultural communications and global community building
Connecting, Collaborating, Cultivating Community