Yesterday my girls decided to go on a hunt for a blue tongue lizard that talks. They were insistent that they would find one. I thought how amazing their creativity and imagination. I did wonder where this idea of finding a talking lizard had come from but like most things the girl’s games are out there and are made up, so obviously from their very creative brains.
The twins have interesting names for toys and characters in their games it sounds like a foreign language. Not sure where it came from again other than their amazing imagination. All this creativity got me thinking, what benefit does a very creative imagination have on your education and life?
From looking on the internet I found that imagination and creative play help the following:
- Teaches kids to be better problem solvers.
- Allows children to communicate better socially and with creative play give the child a way to practice new conversation and skills in different situations. Practice real life skills.
- Intellectually the child is better off as creative and imaginative play help the growth of abstract thought. This in turn creates a person who is a creative thinker. Creative thinkers have been proven to be more successful than people who had less imagination.
- Allows your child to be themselves and try new things in a safe environment.
- According to the brainy-child.com website imagination can do the following for your child: Develop social skills and intelligence, enhance the power of self-confidence, boost and promote intellectual growth, develop linguistic abilities, create balance and order in life, treat both bad and good experiences with an equal measure, and achieve excellence in classroom.
Einstein said, “Knowledge can get us from A to B. Imagination can take us anywhere.” How true is this quote, without imagination, buildings would not have been built, books written, artwork created, new technology thought of and made, and so on.
I value creativity and of course imagination as I believe it has a lot to offer the twins and of course us as parents. Hubby and I play made up games and participate in the girls colourful and creative exercises. We have made sure to add fairy statues to our backyard to help with the fun. A while ago now, mushrooms sprouted and they were all red and pink (not sure if good to eat so we did not), the girls saw it and asked daddy what it was, he told them that it was mushrooms but in actual fact it was the fairies home. He told the girls to not touch the mushrooms as the fairies would be upset that their home would get destroyed. The girls agreed and the mushrooms or fairy home was left alone.
I make sure to have puzzles, paper and pens/crayons for drawing, paint for painting, make our own play dough, take walks and have adventures, create stories, read books, play in the backyard, go to the park, and let the girls have some creative unstructured play (basically just play in the yard and do what they want).
In case you are interested I have gained inspiration and have read the following links:
- Imagination in Kids is Important
- The Power of Magical Thinking
- Nurturing Imagination
- How can imagination benefit kids and how to help them to develop imagination
- Make Your Child Smarter
Have your little ones been busy creating or making games that you have no idea what is going on? Well mine definitely are. Do you come in and find that a room is suddenly rearranged as a fort or at least a cubby house?
What games do you play with your kids to help with imaginative play? Do you start them off and leave the tools so they can create themselves?
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