Ben Kingston-Hughes - Simple Moments of Joy

Ben Kingston-Hughes - Simple Moments of Joy

I often work on adoption activity days, a wonderful project to help children find forever families. Last year we made magic potions with a group of children and adopters. Our potions are made of food colouring and shiny confetti but then we make the potion light up by having a torch cunningly concealed in a cardboard box. A young child had, with the help of an adopter, made a bright green potion. Unaware that the potion was about to light up the child placed it on top of the light box and then something happened as he saw his potion glow with “real” magic. The child’s eyes widened and he began shaking. Something appeared to “bubble” up inside him and then he laughed and, almost as an involuntary reflex, squeezed the potion as hard as he could. Yes, you’ve guessed it. The lid flew off and the potion exploded into the face of the adopter (who was wearing a white shirt!). There was a moment of silence and then both adopter and child laughed out loud.

What is this feeling?

So what was it this child was experiencing? A feeling so real and visceral that he simply could not stop himself from physically reacting. I believe it was something simple and yet at the same time incredibly important. A moment of Joy.

It would be easy to dismiss the concept of Joy. Afterall it is not even mentioned in the EYFS or National curriculum or even in the Characteristics of Effective Learning but I believe it is neurologically and developmentally of huge significance to our children. I am not talking here about joy as a woolly or even abstract concept but as a concrete foundation for well-being and learning for the rest of a child’s life.

Research on Joy

So I have decided to write a book all about Joy. I am attempting to define joy and explore just how important this undervalued concept can be. I have been researching the neuroscience, biochemistry and even the evolutionary biology of Joy.

One thing I have been researching is the biochemicals associated with feelings of happiness and contentment. Our body releases Dopamine as part of our reward system when we achieve a goal or experience feelings of contentment such as after a delicious meal. It actually plays a part in our efficiency and effectiveness to complete a task and is therefore a key component in learning and development. Children experiencing feelings of success through learning, for instance, will produce Dopamine making them want to learn more to experience more Dopamine. Children who feel like they have failed or are constantly told they are wrong will not produce Dopamine and consequently may not want to try.

What’s in the box?

Working with vulnerable children I occasionally receive donations from companies. Imagine my excitement when on the morning before a visit to a school I received a cardboard box full of den making material. I did not have time to open the box so just shoved it in the van and set off for the session. At the beginning of the session I handed the children the box to see what was inside. I cannot describe the infectious excitement that occurred as the children opened up the box and pulled out the brightly coloured materials one by one. The children became more and more thrilled by each shiny bit of material and “oohed” and “aahed” as if watching the most entrancing firework display. The sad fact is that it would never have occurred to me to give the children the unopened box if I had not been so short of time in the morning. I would have unpacked the material myself and put it in the den making kit bag ready for the children.  This wonderful joy of discovery simply would not have happened.

Surprise

So it turns out that there is potentially a biochemical reason (at least in part) for this joy of discovery. Dopamine production is increased when we experience surprising or unexpected happiness. The little boy who had not realised the potion would light up or the children who were entranced by the succession of shiny bits of material, had potentially experienced increased dopamine production because the experience was unexpected. This brings us right back to awe and wonder as intrinsically important, not merely for learning and development but because they increase the production of dopamine and are a key component of joy.

So What can we do?

Receiving you monthly wages may make you happy but that is nothing compared to the happiness felt when you find a tenner in the bottom of your jeans pocket that you didn’t realise was there. So let’s ensure children experience the tenner in the pocket feeling not just the ordinary wages feeling. Have plenty of things for children to discover and find for themselves. Bring in boxes with unknown contents, will it be shells, will it be gold coins, will it be slugs? Let children unbox resources, open parcels and find buried treasure. Bury dinosaurs in the sandpit. Bring in exciting ornaments from far away lands or taste interesting new foods.

We also need to put ourselves in the mind of a child. Remember the first time we ever see or experience something. For most of us we were too young to really remember just how exciting the world was when we were children.

Fresh snow, fresh eyes

I had a friend who moved to the UK from Malaysia when he was 16. I was standing next to him when it snowed. He had never seen snow except on TV before and even all these years later I will never forget the joy on his face as he saw and felt the snow for the first time.

The magic of bubbles

We all know that bubbles pop right? But just imagine for a second if we didn’t. We know all about spherical objects, we have seen and played with balls and eaten oranges and none of those popped? If you didn’t already know a bubble was going to pop there would be no indication at all that this was going to happen, after all why would it? And then it pops! A tiny moment of disequilibrium where we adjust our sense of reality to meet the new observations. Also though, a tiny moment of joy, a rush of dopamine and an overwhelming desire not just to see more bubbles but make them pop. Then of course the surprise of tasting soap when you inevitably try to eat one. This is what I am talking about. If we can give children experiences that simulate the first pop of a bubble then we are bringing joy to a child. When we propagate to children our adult sense of the world as dull and unsurprising all we do is lessen the amount of joy.

So instead of thinking of Joy as abstract or nebulous let’s look for ways to give our children joy. Let’s be more joyful and work hard to find the surprising wonderfulness of every day occurrences. I believe it is every child’s fundamental right to experience a joyful childhood and it may just be the most important thing you ever do.

Ben Kingston-Hughes

Ben’s book, “A Very Unusual Journey into Play” is available to order here, and his new book on joy will be published next year. He is also the founder and Managing Director of Inspired Children, providing award-winning, inspirational training for nurseries, schools and out of school settings. If you’re a Morton Michel policyholder, you can receive an exclusive 20% discount on Ben’s training sessions! Find out more. 

The information in this article is provided by Ben Kingston-Hughes and does not represent Morton Michel.