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We all know kids say the darndest things, and that’s exactly how Live From Snack Time came about. The project’s website explains that its creator, school teacher Alyssa Cowit, “was so fascinated by the questions and comments from her Kindergarteners that she started an Instagram account to chronicle them”.
“Alyssa believes children are honest and curious, and while often perplexed, they’re brilliant – and that it’s a teacher’s job to take what children say seriously,” Live From Snack Time’s website explains. “[She] wants to help adults understand that children are not always acting outrageous to seek attention, but instead thinking out loud, soaking up new information, and solving problems 24/7!”
After years of sharing fantastic quotes online, Live From Snack Time has amassed quite the loyal following. At the moment, their Instagram account has 673k followers, their Twitter has nearly 13k followers, and their Facebook page has 64k followers. Alyssa and Greg have even opened an online store selling shirts, mugs, hats and masks with the adorable Live From Snack Time logo.
To hear more about how this fantastic project has impacted her life, we reached out to Alyssa via email. "Live From Snack Time has very much changed my day to day life," she told Bored Panda. "As a teacher, I speak to kids all day long. I love collaborating with my teaching team, but there is usually only a short time for that. LFST allows me to speak with adults, consult the community, hear from people all over the world, share recommendations, and insight from followers and professionals outside of the education field. It's been pretty fascinating."
We were also curious where she sees the future of Live From Snack Time going. "We often pose questions to our community like, 'What is your biggest parenting failure?' or 'Which baby products do you secretly love for yourself?' and it's interesting to hear how similar and relatable the answers are," Alyssa shared. "We are so much alike, adults from all over the globe have made the same hilarious parenting mistakes. I hope LFST continues to bring us together in funny ways." She also mentioned that they have big dreams of doing a live show and/or podcast, so stay tuned!
When it comes to any favorite moments or best quotes Alyssa could remember, she told Bored Panda, "I think the best part of LFST is that it proves that kids say the things we as adults wish we could. It's unfiltered hilarious gold (most of the time). One kid said recently 'I cry on sad days, I cry on bad days, and I cry on regular days.' It is just so real and clearly something they were reflecting on. I hope the adult nearby said, 'Yes!!! And that is totally okay!'"
We also asked Alyssa why it is so important to listen to children and provide a platform for what they have to say. "It's so incredibly important to listen to children and be explicit, even/especially if it's something so abstract, like emotions," she shared. "It is our job to help them process and grow. When kids have these big reactions we often assume they are seeking attention, but most often they are curious or seriously confused. Even if they are seeking attention, why are they needing it? That's also important!"
We then asked Alyssa if she thinks running Live From Snack Time has given her a more childlike perspective in everyday life. "LFST has definitely helped change the way I view the world, more about the power of social media," she explained. "While it could bring out the ugly in people, we feel LFST brings humor, and connection to our community. We find that our followers have responded so well to our content because we were all once kids, have kids, or teach kids. It's a way to unify us and yeah in ways, inspire or remind us of that childlike wonder."
Over the past 5 years, I have worked as a teacher, camp counselor and au pair, and I can certainly testify that kids are geniuses. After spending lots of time with them, I sometimes feel sad that my brain seems to have built walls and boundaries that their little minds just don’t have. They are incredibly creative and brave, and their imaginations know no bounds. Although we may never be able to reach a point of unbridled childlike wonder again, even just reading quotes from Live From Snack Time might help us channel our inner children just a bit, which can make life much more fun!
