Ten Tiny Things

Tessa and Zachary had a shiny machine.

It was a green machine.

It was a clean machine.

It was a cozy and comfortable and calm machine….

But one morning, the machine chugged and spluttered.

It coughed and choked and it would not budge.

“Oh no!” said Tessa.

“How are we going to get to school? said Zachary.

Tessa and Zachary rode to and from school each day in their shiny, green and clean machine, but one morning it would not start and they were forced to walk to school.  They complained that it was “so far..hot …hilly and horrible.” But as they walked with aching legs, Tessa noticed something,

It was a red thing.

It was a sparkly thing.

It was a tiny, tiny thing.

“I think I might have [seen that before]…from the machine only it was kind of blurry.” Zachary said.   The two continued walking and as they walked, “they kept their eyes open for more tiny things.”  By the time they arrived at school, the pair had seen “secret somethings and hidden happenings” and had seen “ten tiny things.”  Later in the day when their mother picked them up from school in the (repaired) machine, they climbed in and again “looked for ten tiny things.” But, the “world whizzed past their windows like a big, foggy blur.”  The next morning when their mom started the machine to take them to school, Tessa thought the machine sounded “chuggy” and Zachary thought the machine sounded “spluttery” so they thought it best to walk to school.  And this time, their walk “was an excellent walk…a slow and simple and splendiferous [walk].”  And from that day on, the two walked to school and always “looked for ten tiny things.”

Ten Tiny Things is a story about slowing down, enjoying the moment and finding joy in the little things, “the secret somethings and the hidden happenings.”  My boys and I followed Zachary and Tessa’s lead and took a ten tiny things walk as well. Here is how our walk went.

Ten Tiny Things Walk

I gave my son a bag and said, “While we are walking, I want you to look for ten new things. Ten new things you have not seen or noticed before.”  And we began walking and as we walked we noticed the small stones that made up the sidewalk. We noticed all the different things that had fallen from trees. We noticed the rubbish in the streets and the cigarette butts along the sidewalks. We noticed bottle caps, coins and even a lost earring. We noticed feathers and flowers and  puddles.  It was amazing how different the world seemed during this walk. It was as if we were somewhere we had never been before….

I created this Ten Tiny Things Collection Box.  I made it from a cardboard tray that came with our canned dog food and a cereal box.  I printed the numbers 1-10 on my computer and glued them in place.

I had my son put the ten things we collected on our walk in our collection box.

We talked about our findings. We talked about our walk. Then we sorted our items in a variety of different ways.

When we were done, we talked about taking another Ten Tiny Things walk in a different area to see what we notice and what we can find.

Find more at the Ten Tiny Things site

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