Should I Be Concerned?

I think children left to "their own devices", can be a good thing. It gives them an opportunity to create and learn.

First the boy comes in this afternoon to show me a leaf he burned an "H" into with a magnifying glass. "I did get some little burns on my fingers" he said cheerfully.

Just now he came in very excited with an impish grin on his face. "Do you think my experiment will be successful?" he asks me. "What experiment is that?" I replied. "Oh didn't I tell you - I'm making gunpowder. I found out that gunpowder is mostly made of water and charcoal and so I thought maybe I could make some. But I'm using some already burned up charcoal so it's not as flammable."

Hmmm - maybe I ought to go out and check. Hopefully he knows that the gasoline for the lawn mower is off limits.

...I did go out just to remind him that he is not to touch gasoline or matches. He seemed surprised that I would even THINK he would be messing with that kind of stuff.

The picture above was from the weekend. The fire had been put out the night before and was still smoldering a bit in the morning when ds came across it. He had fun poking around it with a stick...finding bits of charcoal etc. I normally would not let him mess around with a fire pit - but I was right there keeping an eye on him. I have always loved fires, so I don't blame him for being interested.