“The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility — these three forces are the very nerve of education.” ~ Rudolf Steiner
Children who have healthy imaginations are happier, have better coping skills, and are more creative. While child development experts seem to universally agree on this, the modern world’s focus on video games, television, and cell phones leaves many children with little room for imagination.
Fortunately, if you’re intentional about the options you give your child, it’s very easy to nurture his or her imagination.
Here are five ideas that even the busiest parent can implement:
1. Tell Stories Where Your Child Has a Staring Role: You don’t need a book to tell a story. In fact, one of the best ways to get your child’s imagination up and running is to put them in the middle of a fun and magical tale that comes straight from your mouth.
But I’m not a writer or not creative enough to come up with a story, you may be thinking. You’re over-complicating it.
Start with “Once upon and time” and go from there. Make the story up as you go along. Include things your child is interested in. Dragons, princesses, unicorns, superheroes. Make your child the one that saves the day, or the damsel in distress, or the evil doer turned good.
Point is, it doesn’t matter how “good” the story is. Your child will love it and it will kickstart her own imagination.
2. Create Stories Through Your Child’s Art: Provide your child with lots of simple opportunities to create art. A blank piece of paper and a set of washable markers is a good start. From there, a visit to your local craft store to choose items he’s interested in will provide a consistent source of imaginative play.
Encourage your child to create whatever he wants to. The sun doesn’t have to be yellow, the grass doesn’t have to be green.
Avoid coloring books and other projects where there appears to be a “right” way to do it. We’re talking about coloring outside any lines here and throwing the instruction manual away.
Talk to your child about his art project and encourage him to tell you the story of the picture he drew or the collage he created. Wear the things he makes you. Tape his projects up on the walls.
Encourage the use of lots of different and natural materials. Collect items outside for use in his projects.
3. Read the Book Before You See the Movie: Not surprisingly, research shows that consistently reading to your child helps develop her creativity and imagination. And the number of books that are brilliantly authored to immerse your child in a land of make believe is limitless.
Of course the best ones are often turned into movies. Harry Potter is one of the first to jump to mind.
Movies have their place as entertainment and the cheapest, most reliable babysitter you can get, but they also take away your child’s crucial ability to imagine how a story looks in her mind.
When you read Harry Potter, your child creates a picture of each character in her mind. She envisions what Hogwarts looks like and how Quidditch is played.
When you see the movie, Harry Potter becomes actor Daniel Radcliffe, and all the magical creatures and scenes become defined in your child’s mind by how Hollywood portrays them.
That’s not to say don’t let your child watch movies, but always read the book first.
4. Bring Out the Boxes, Blankets, and Pillows: We joke about how kids are often seen playing with the package the toy came in rather than the toy itself, but it pays to give some thought to the fact that it’s true!
Most toys are forgotten about or broken in a relatively short period of time. But your child’s desire to play with boxes and bubble wrap lives on.
Focus on “toys” that don’t have one distinct purpose. Large boxes from an appliance store are great fun. Get out the blankets, scarves, and couch pillows and leave your child to create forts and make believe worlds.
Pretend play improves your child’s problem solving skills and aids their academic development.
5. Explore Nature: While we probably didn’t need research to tell us this, it does show that being in nature helps our mental, physical and social health.
This one’s pretty easy. Play outside. There are an unlimited number of the best toys available in nature, and they’re all free.
Visit parks and playgrounds. Hike and play in the creek. Allow your child to collect whatever interests him. Use it in his art or create a nature table at home.
Create the Habit of Imagination
Start early and often in developing your child’s imagination. She will learn to seek out activities that nurture and grow her imagination. The result will be a happy and successful child.
And don’t forget to let KidsPartyCharacters.com help fuel your child’s imagination at her next party. We have over 200 characters to choose from, meaning there’s one to fit what every child imagines as her perfect party guest.
Check out our party packages on our website and connect with us on Facebook to see how KidsPartyCharacters.com can help bring your child’s imagination to life.
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