Sculpture

Grass Sculpture, From the series At Play, Digital Capture, © Dennis DeHart, 2012

The longer I work on the series At Play, the more I feel compelled towards taking a role in the advocacy of nature play in regards to education and childhood development. Recently, the two boys were fighting something awful. After finally getting them out of the house, the struggle continued as they stomped up the trail.  After perhaps a half hour of listening to the two argue, I just sat down. The two boys fussed for a little longer, and then started doing their own activities. It was incredible watching their awareness shift from a presence in their minds, to one in their bodies. Asher climbed a tree, damned a stream, and watched dragonflies. Emmit took reeds of grass, stripped them with his knife, and then tied them into various knots. We did not move from our three separate, though connected spots, for perhaps 30 minutes. On the walk back to the car later, they found a dead mouse. The children stopped, observed, and poked at the corpse. After a close examination, they decided to bury the mouse. The burial included a shallow grave, overlaid with grass, and marked by a simple, slightly carved stick.