Children in the second plane of development (ages 6 to 12) begin to come up with extensive projects for themselves that we call “Big Work.” It’s a way of combining all of the elements that have been isolated during the first plane of development (ages 0-6) and figuring out how everything can fit together. So how can you support your second plane kids in the Big Work they choose to undertake?

Allow for long periods of time to work on the project

These aren’t simple work trays that take a few minutes to complete and then they move on to something else. Big Work can take weeks or even months to complete, and making sure that your child has ample time to work on it regularly can help set them up for success.

Provide access to a wide variety of materials

Make sure you have a lot of books available on a wide variety of topics, and then provide raw materials to use in whatever way your second plane child sees fit. This doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money — make use of your local library and keep a bunch of recyclables on hand to repurpose in imaginative ways! For some inspiration, check out our Creation Station.

Give them space

Your second plane child has a grand vision of their finished project in their heads, and they need the space to figure out how to make it happen. Try to refrain from jumping in with suggestions or directing the project in your own way. Doing it independently is part of the draw! Instead, try asking open-ended questions about it like, “What’s your plan for that?”

So what does a second plane Big Work look like? The possibilities are endless, but here’s an example of one my daughters (ages 8 & 9) just completed: a musical!

Yes, a musical. Over the span of several months, they made up a storyline, wrote some songs together, and created elaborate scenery.

Now I’m not going to sugar coat it for you — THIS DROVE ME NUTS. The creation of scenery, backdrops, and props took several weeks alone and it meant that the Creation Station was in a constant state of absolute mess. I wanted to put a stop to it, but instead I shut the door and tried not to look. And it definitely paid off.

After at least 6 months of developing everything needed for this Big Work, the girls were ready to put it all together. Over two weekends, we recorded the musical. This required A LOT of mediating and conflict resolution as they both had strong opinions and were used to more independent projects. But we got through it!

After filming had finished, the girls arranged the clips using iMovie and added transitions between scenes. And 6 months after this Big Work first entered their imaginations, they have a completed musical!