Teaching Design: The creeper plant and the bonsai

I did a small lesson plan on design with my rather young yet challenging charges a few days ago and one of the things that I observe is the depth, or lack of, in their ability to see things, most of the times, beyond the mere statement of a given problem. It can be challenging to teach them about the intricacies of design, and design appreciation at times, but what I do appreciate most, is their rather innocent way of seeing things at times, which I do find refreshing for someone who can get too technical in his teaching. What my charges do taught me is the fact that at times, we tend to try TOO HARD to imbibe in them OUR way of seeing things, without taking into account THEIR way of seeing the same thing! Interesting to note too about how sometimes, to them, design can be something that can get a little too cute, or even 'impossible' in terms of its practical realisation, but then again, if we are to let creativity and innovation start to take root, shouldn't we then allow these 'creativity growth' to spurt on then, ok ok, maybe not to an unhindered wild-like extent like the creeper plants, but I guess we can always be more gentle and guide their growth along, to something that perhaps is eventually capable of leveling up their cognitive ability, maybe perhaps like a bonsai plant!