Beauty, Simplicity, and the Grass Doll
From grass, we weave the doll. From the doll, we weave the story. What we’re doing is rooting our story in the physical earth. We touch it. We play with it. We create imaginative worlds. This is the power of story, and it creates a very rich experience.
In this episode, we explore the theme of self-worth and beauty through the lens of a common blade of grass, who begins to compare herself to the tulip. We will also teach you how to make a simple grass doll.
A human figure - whether of sticks, plastic, or yarn - is an essential ingredient of play. As a parent, making one for your child out of everyday objects from the earth can be very rewarding. And it only takes five minutes.
The story takes your character even further. You and your child witness the grass becoming a person, and the person becoming a story. Soon we’re building homes out of stones, gardens out of leaves, and super-highways for our imaginations.
We call this the Storytelling Loop. It is a journey we take with our kids. We start with something real (like grass), then tell a creative story about it. When we finish, the grass takes on new meaning. Nothing has changed, but everything has changed. Play is often a final component, as a child will commonly repeat or act out the story with a favorite doll - in this case the one you just made!
In This Episode
Explore the theme of self-worth and beauty
Learn how to make a grass doll
Watch the video to see an example
Listen to the story of Simplicity, or tell your own
Explore how storytelling changes your child’s relationship to the grass under her feet. Can you see other characters and stories ready to come alive in your backyard?
In the Story
This story works with the internal question of self-worth and beauty. In it, the blade of grass compares itself to the tulip. How often do we encounter for ourselves or our children the comparison to someone who achieves more, looks better, has a more perfect life? This story helps us to look at ourselves from the perspective of the blade of grass and embrace the gift of simplicity within our own being. This honest inquiry leads to a friendship with someone who is very different yet has the same questions living inside them.
After the Story
Having witnessed the creation of the doll and the story, a child has ample opportunity to explore these themes even further in her play. The doll and story give us a useful perspective by taking the spotlight off ourselves.
Do I myself have a friend that is the tulip? Do I sometimes feel like a common blade of grass? Feel free to explore and create your own story that helps you shine light on places that need creative solutions, which can easily arise in a story once we let go of predicting the outcome.
