Saul's Sandwiches | Early Learning, From the Kids, The Museum

and the power of play

As the Museum winds down in its last week of summer camp, I took a moment to sit down and observe the kids and their endless ability to imagine. I was a customer at the world famous, �??Saul�??s Sandwiches�?� which offers menu items such as �??peanut butter and lettuce sandwiches�?� and the �??tallest sandwich in the world.�?� Not to mention the dishes always come in your "favorite" color.

Passersby of Saul�??s would have simply seen children �??playing,�?? which wouldn�??t be an incorrect observation but is too often a misunderstood one.

When I first sat down at the deli a young girl was dramatically complaining that this was the worst day of her life because her boss was making her work �??too many hours and not giving [her] any breaks and [she] has to do everything she says and [she] doesn�??t even make any money!�?� Another young girl added �??she needs a raise!�?�

The kids at Saul�??s were imitating adult situations and circumstances. They had divided workloads and tasks, assigned a hierarchy of employee and employer, and jumped right into the business of sandwich making. The cashier answered the phone �??Thank you for calling�?� hey, what�??s the name of this place?�?�

Another girl answered proudly �??Saul�??s Sandwiches.�?� Until then, the restaurant didn�??t need a name, it was operating without one just fine. And like the adult world, the children dealt with inconsistencies and conflicts in policy as the particular issues arose. The playacting was so imitative of adult life that when I summarize the 20 minutes of play I observed, one could easily believe this to be the account of an actual workday at a restaurant:

The day started off on the wrong foot as Erin was upset because she�??s overworked and needs a raise. The lunch rush swamped Kate as the phone rang nonstop and the orders became outrageously complicated with no time for breaks. Things got worse when John dropped a whole order and everyone had to quit what they were doing to help clean it up.

In The Power of Play, David Elkind writes of the social benefits of playacting. �??Playacting is largely imitative and helps the child appreciate that one thing can be two things at the same time�?�When children play cops and robbers, or humans and aliens, they have to take the perspective of someone else. Because this type of play often has moral overtones-the bad guys and the good guys-this means that the child must be able to take the perspective of both hero and villain.�?�

By imitating adult life, the kids at Saul�??s stepped into the perspective of actual employees and managers at a restaurant and gained an understanding of the complexity of working in groups for a common goal. The social benefits of negotiating and working as a team go much further than what some would simply call a �??game.�?�

As I left Saul�??s Sandwiches with enough peanut butter and lettuce to start my own small deli, there was no doubt in my mind why they are considered �??world famous.�?�

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