Kid conversations: Alien Invasion

Trapped inside for yet another indoor recess this week I had the following conversation with some members of the K/1 class.

A group of boys was playing with pattern blocks and as I watched them I realized that one of them was talking about dropping a bomb.

"What's your classroom rule about bombs?" I asked. The thing I love about the K/1 class is they will usually tell me what the rule is, even if it means they have to stop doing what they were doing.

"There's no rule about bombs." Owen assured me, most enthusiastically. However, he is one of the K/1's who won't necessarily tell me the whole truth. I waited to see what he would say next. "There is only a rule about guns. No guns." He continued.

"Actually, "Alex put forth, "the rule is no weapons."

"No weapons at all?" I asked.

"No." a chorus of boys assured me.

"Well, a bomb is a weapon." I told them. "If you have a rule about no weapons, then you can't pretend to drop bombs."

"What about missiles?" asked Thai, seeking a loophole. I told him that alas, missiles were weapons too.

"Spears!" Owen, the optimist, asked.

"Nope, also a weapon."

"Well how are we supposed to play alien invasion if we can use weapons?" Owen, was a bit perturbed at this point.

"I guess you are just going to have to use peace, love and understanding," I told them, "because you can't use weapons."