Early one morning as the kids were stumbling out of bed and straggling to the breakfast table, I went to the garage to look in on eight new puppies and their mother. My three-year old son clad in his pajamas and bare-footed soon followed me. As he approached the garage with puddles of puppy piddle and poop, I told him to “Stop. Don't come in here with your bare feet.” To my surprise, his big blue eyes filled with tears and he sobbed out, “I don't have bear feet. I have little boy feet.” I scooped him up, comforted him and explained that I meant he had nothing on his feet. This brought to mind something my oldest daughter did at about the same age. As we were driving past the Mercury car dealership one day, she casually asked, “Where's the big cat that lives up there?” Trying to look where she was pointing, trying to figure out what “cat” had to do with where we were and keep the van on the road was interesting indeed. When I asked, “What cat?” she replied, “the big brown one that lives on the sign.” The light came on and I realized that she was talking about the “cat” that was the Mercury cougar in the car commercials. I began to see her reasoning. The cougar in the television ads was real and it was shown sitting on top of the Mercury sign. Therefore, it must live on the sign. Very logical thinking for a child with limited knowledge of cougars and without a full understanding of the magic of TV.

Young children can take things they see and hear so literally. If your really want to bring the literal world to life with your kids at home or in the classroom, The Amelia Bedelia books by Peggy Parish are perfect. They are funny and down right silly which is appealing to young children. It is a fun way for incidental learning to occur while you spend quality time with your children.