Unicorns & Rainbows
May 18, 2025 | Rachel Yu
My 5-year-old Cantonese student is obsessed with unicorns.
One of the activities I do with her often is "spot the difference." Ever since I included a picture with unicorns in it, she refuses to do any spot-the-difference activities without unicorns. (If anyone knows where to find more, please let me know, I'm running out.)
She lives and breathes unicorns.
She has a million unicorn toys, and her enthusiasm to show me every single one of them is the most adorable thing ever.
Her favorite color is rainbow.
When she first answered my question "What is your favorite color?" she exclaimed "Rainbow!" with such excitement that she jumped off her chair. The mere mention of rainbows makes her the happiest little girl in the world.
Then, I asked her which color in the rainbow was her favorite. She smiled and told me "all of it!"
My teacher instinct told me to correct her, to explain that 'favorite' means choosing just one option, but then I stopped myself.
Who said it has to be that way?
Just like there are infinite decimal numbers between 0 and 1, there are infinite colors in the visible spectrum. The rainbow gradually shifts from red to purple, hitting every possible shade between.
At first, I felt melancholy thinking that one day she would realize unicorns aren't real, but then I reconsidered. Like the unicorns, magic exists within her. Just because I think unicorns aren't real doesn't mean they don't exist in her world. My thoughts don't matter, what matters is that unicorns are part of who she is.
Like her favorite color, may her world be filled with all the possibilities of her vibrant energy. May she let her imagination run wild like the unicorns in her sky.
I might be teaching these kids a language, but the things they teach me go far beyond words, beyond what any book or YouTube video could contain.
Let kids be kids. Not only that, let's learn from them. Childlike imagination and wonder are gifts we should cherish and protect, not correct or diminish.
I give unicorns and rainbows 5 stars.