When they won't let anyone in

Cardboard bricks

Only I can come in here

Chaewon built a space out of bricks — a room with Chaewon in it.

Another child stepped into it to play.

“No! Get out!”

“But I want to play too.”

It got asked again, and turned down again, and again.

Teacher Yubok didn't ask Chaewon to share.

“How about we build a house out of bricks next to that one?”

A nod. Bricks got carried over, and a second space went up right beside the first.

“Only I can come in here!”

And that was the game. By the end of it there were spaces all along that side of the room, each with one person in it.

What kept it going Sharing wasn't the thing they wanted. Having somewhere of your own was — and once there were two of those, there could be five.

Play kitchen

Ask if you can come in

The house was made of bricks and magnetic tiles, and the kitchen things had been carried in and laid out.

“Nice drinks here.”

“Juice as well.”

“Me too, me too.”

Fruit went into cups, and the cups got lined up along the front, and whoever came near got shown them.

“Drinks here.”

Later two of them made the house bigger.

And Chaewon was going round the outside of it, not asking.

“Do you want to go in?”

A nod.

“Say 'can I come in?'”

It took a moment.

“Can I come in.”

“You can come in.”

And an arm came out and pointed at a space inside.

Building bricks

That's where the cars go

The road puzzle was new. Bori picked up a piece, turned it one way, turned it back, turned it again, and it went in. Then the next one.

When it was finished it went from one end to the other.

“Long!”

That brought the others, and what they brought were whatever toys they had in their hands, which went straight down onto the road and got pushed up and down it.

“Not that. That's where the cars go.”

So one of them went over to the bricks instead. A few bricks went together, and a little figure went on top of them, and it came over to be shown.

“Going to Mummy. Mummy's gone to work.”

Then that got carried over and put down on the road, and driven along it.

Colored paper cups

You can only come in when you're happy

The cups had faces stuck on them.

“This one's Joy. This one's Sadness.”

Then the sorting started, and it was by colour. Yellow with yellow. Red with red.

Chaewon laid the yellow ones out in a ring, wide enough to sit inside.

“This is the Joy room.”

The child with the red ones had a room as well.

“This is the room where you get angry.”

Somebody went to step into the yellow ring.

“You can only come in here when you're happy.”

So blue went down as the sad room, and black went down as the scary room. And then they went round telling each other when they had been each of those.