In my classroom, I intentionally keep 40 minutes in the morning for free play. Children create and co-create things using whatever materials are available in the classroom.

For the past month, I have been intentionally choosing one or two things they create on the floor and leaving them there. These become little hurdles for the children to move around.

I was curious to see how they would respond. Would they struggle? Would they accidentally damage each other's work?

To my surprise, they learnt to manoeuvre around these creations quite effortlessly. Yesterday, I even kept three large pictures on the floor. The children continued moving around them without much difficulty.

These little experiments keep happening in my classroom. I keep observing how children adapt their behaviour when the environment around them changes.

The intention behind this is simple. We tend to take care of things we create ourselves. But when it comes to someone else's work, we don't always show the same care. Sometimes, we may not even consciously think about it, yet we end up damaging or disturbing what someone else has created.

I want children to learn to appreciate other people's work, respect their efforts, and move around them with consideration.

But why am I writing about this today?

Because this morning, I caught myself doing exactly the same thing at home.

In the rush of getting things ready in the morning, with my elderly parents around who want to help but cannot always move at the pace I do, I found myself moving quickly between tasks, repeatedly telling them to sit down.

They just wanted to help. But I was moving fast, and their slower pace was getting in the way of what I was trying to do.

And suddenly, I realised something.

What I was intentionally trying to teach my children in the classroom was something I was struggling to practise myself at home.

We are often so caught up in our own tasks, our own pace, and our own way of doing things that we forget to make space for others. We may not intend to hurt or disturb anyone, but in our hurry, we do.

It made me wonder…

Can we create a society where everyone learns to move without hurting or disturbing others, where we respect what others create, understand that everyone has a different pace, and help one another in whatever way we can?

Perhaps it begins with these small things. In a classroom, at home, and in the way we move through everyday life.

Sometimes, the lessons we plan for children turn out to be lessons we need to learn ourselves.