8 March at PlusKids: poems, songs and pizza bought with the fair's takings

Many happy returns to all mothers and to all women around the world!

We celebrated 8 March at PlusKids: we sang, recited poems about mothers and ate pizza bought with the money raised at the mărțișor fair.

That last part is in fact the most instructive. The children made the mărțișoare, sold them at the fair, collected the money and then decided what to do with it. It is a complete cycle, run from end to end in a single week, and it explains what work, selling and result mean better than any theoretical workshop. The fact that the money was spent together, on something everyone enjoyed, added the element of a decision taken as a group.

The poems and songs about mothers played their part too. For a child, saying something lovely in front of others about an important person in their life is not an easy exercise — which is exactly why it matters. The feeling that will not come out on its own at the kitchen table comes out far more easily through a learned poem.

A lovely day, in which the celebration had a layer of learning underneath it.