A kid at the library asked me why my map had no farms

I was sketching my world map at a table in the children's section last Tuesday. A boy, maybe 8, pointed at a big empty plain and said, 'Where does the food come from?' I just stared at it. I had castles, mountains, forests, but no farms or fields. It made me realize I only put in the 'cool' stuff. I went home and added little farm plots and pastures near every town. Has anyone else had a simple question totally change how you build a place?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_nina5d ago

My friend was designing a city and her little cousin asked where all the people went to the bathroom. She had to add sewers and outhouses everywhere after that. Kids notice the stuff we forget.

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jessicaw115d ago

That bit about kids noticing what we forget is so true. I see it when my nephew points out there's no handle on a push door, or asks why a building has windows that don't open. Adults get used to the broken stuff and stop seeing it.

felix_coleman874d ago

That's a great point from @the_nina about the bathroom question. Kids haven't learned to ignore the basic needs yet. They see a city and just think about the people living there, needing to eat and sleep and use the toilet. Adults get stuck on the big picture stuff like traffic flow or building styles. We forget to make sure the place actually works for living in. It's a good reminder to step back and look at our own projects with that kind of simple, practical eye.