Rock, Paper, Scissors

Realizing I only had one box of crayons instead of my usual two, I told two kindergarten boys that I felt sure they'd be able to share. I check on these children each morning and have done so for most of the year. They color in rainbow charts showing how well they behaved the day before, and each of them normally has his own box of crayons. I reminded these guys about how they used to argue and criticize and blame and be jealous of each other's scores back in the fall when we first started our charts. However, they've improved amazingly in all kinds of areas during this school year and are now real friends. To prove to me that they could handle having only one box of crayons to share, one child walked to the other and held up the open box for him to choose from. The second boy said, "No, you go first." The first child said, "No, you." Then, a beautiful thing happened. Spontaneously and with no coaching from me, they simultaneously started playing rock, paper, scissors, shoot and solved the problem peacefully and with good humor. I can't express how much I'll miss these two next year, who'll both be moving to a different school. They've sincerely enriched my mornings this year!