It took me a minute to figure out what he was up to, but suddenly I realized he was pretending to spear fish, which happens to be one of his father's recent interests. Since Belle normally takes the lead on their pretend play, I didn't want to discourage John from the imaginary world he initiated. Belle was at a good stopping point anyways, so I agreed to take a fishing break. In a flash, Belle was in swim attire and busy adding to John's game. She invented a weapon (a comb) which could kill 100 fish at a time, and she carefully advised her brother how to use it.
I didn't have the heart to break up the fun they were having spearing and cooking fish, so I thought of a way to turn their game into learning for Belle. Since many of her math problems that day were to build numbers, we simply pretended the manipulative blocks were fish and tossed the correct number into the pan. Granted, this math lesson was a little unconventional, but it did not really take any longer than normal to complete and proved to be quite enjoyable!
Joyful Heart Reminder: Sometimes, taking a little detour is just what we need to find joy and laughter on a rainy day. Put on your thinking cap and try to mix learning and play! (I wish I did this more!)
