Delayed Gratification.....Goop Style

We live in a rush, rush, now, now world.

Need supper NOW?  Throw it in the microwave, it will be ready in seconds.

Need the answer to a question?....Google it.

Need to find out what time your husband will be home?....call him at work.  He doesn't answer?  Call his cell phone.  Still no answer?   Text him.

Children are shoved into our world and are observing with sponge-like brains and memories that trump ours so badly (not sure about you, but I get SCHOOLED every time I play Memory with a young child....and I am not a believer in "let them win"!!!).   They quickly learn that adults don't wait for much, this in turn makes them not want to wait for much.

Children need opportunities to experience delayed gratification.
They need opportunities to be patient.

This is a tale of how one thing always leads to another, and each "another" is usually filled with pure genius-ness when children are leading the way.  It is a tale that ends with a beautiful moment of delayed gratification.  It is one of those moments that I did not see coming, and was enthralled by it!

I will forward through the "boring stuff" as to not delay your gratification any longer (I know...how kind of me.  If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know I CAN be long-winded :D )

Here's the order of events that led to said "delayed gratification":

1)  Smack painting  (giant paper, fly swatters, paint)
2)  Color changing ramps  (colored water in squeeze bottles with a plastic rain gutter ramp system with rubber duckies for good measure)
3)  White goop (aka:  ooblick  aka:  cornstarch and water)
4)  Colored water from the color changing ramps meets the goop -- the results create more independent thinking.....
5)  Paint from the smack painting meets the goop -- the results are awe-inspiring
6)  The resulting chocolate-milk-colored goop meets the plastic raingutters and ducks
7)  The moment of delayed gratification....

Smack painting

Color Changing Ramps (as the water runs down the ramp, it mixes with the other colors and "magically" changes!!)

This clever 4 year old decided to catch the colored water in the ice cream scoop.....hmmmmm....what is his plan?  Scroll to the next pic...

He decided the white goop was a bit boring, and it needed some color!

And more color.....

And more color....

And more color....

And now here is when the: 

"whoa, I didn't see that coming" moment occurred...

the 

goop 

met 

the 

ramps....  

the results were FILLED with value!!!

This child was SO anxious for the duck to go over the edge.  The ducks had moved fairly swiftly when the colored water was being used.  The goop provided a completely different transport speed for the ducky.  If you look closely you can see this child's finger moving towards the duck to help him along..he just couldn't stand to wait!!

Luckily, his brother convinced him to be patient, and they added more goop behind the duck to see if that would speed things along.  Their problem solving skills were successful!!  Over the ducky went.  E-v-e-r s-o S----L----O----W----L----Y.

At this point one of the children exclaimed "HEY!  It's like an elevator!!!  Before it was like a water fall, and now it's like an elevator!!"  (this picture was not taken with a fast shutter speed -- this ducky moved SO SLOWLY!!!)

And there you have it.  Delayed gratification....goop style.

Delayed gratification can be that simple.  It happens all the time, all around us.
Snag those moments and see them for the valuable learning opportunity that they are.
 Play counts....it is filled with valuable moments like this.  We just need to open our eyes and look a little more closely at what is really going on!