First I showed the girls this image and asked what they saw. (They saw both the face and the vase.)

Then I showed them this image and asked if they knew where it was. They guessed NY and DC. It's here in Baltimore in front of our train station. Looked at from different angles, it is a man and it is also a woman. At night there is a purplish light in the heart area of both. (I love this statue.)

Then we pointed out that what you see really depends on how you look at it.

We collected our journals and pencils, and Luca asked us to write a few sentences about how we would feel if we were children who had a favorite tree. We could climb it, read under it, rest in its shade, etc. It was the perfect tree, but one day we went to it and found just a stump. We wrote for about 4 mins.

Then she asked us to imagine being the tree, knowing you are loved by many children but you get cut down. Again, 4 mins to write.

Finally she asked us to imagine being a parent of a sick child who didn't have a job or health insurance. But we found a job, and it involved cutting down a beautiful tree. Again 4 mins to write our feelings.

Then we shared what we'd written and discussed how our feelings were different each time. I was delighted by one response in particular from the parent's perspective: I'd be happy to have a job and be able to take care of my kid, but I'd also feel sad about the kids who loved to play on that tree, so I'd volunteer to build them a new swing set and plant new trees and take care of the park.

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This entry was submitted by Virginia, our Girls Club Facilitator in Baltimore, Maryland. Sounds like you had a great day with the girls exploring how to look at the positive (and multiple) side of things, as this is a multi-dimensional world! Thank you for helping the girls to explore new ideas, and for allowing them to see from different angles.