Are we giving enough opportunities to children?
Children need freedom to express themselves
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
-Albert Einstein
Encourage children to engage in creative activities
We all know that art is a creative expression that also nurtures imagination. Through painting, sculpture, collage, clay, drawing or any other medium, art is a way for children to work through emotions, make decisions and express their ideas, not a lesson in following directions. Manipulating art materials provides a sense of freedom yet also encourages focus and concentration skills and hand-eye coordination.
Children love dramatic play. Instead of throwing out old clothes, create a dress-up box or bag. Encourage your child to use drama and movement to act out things from daily life. It could be doctors, mothers, fathers, shopkeepers– whatever your child likes. Music, movement, and dance can often be part of a simple, everyday play with your child to spark their imagination. Show your child the process of a seed growing into a plant.
Give your child a random object and ask to think of different ways in which it can be used. For example, a doll, a stick, or even a box.
Reinforce the idea that there is a different, unique way to do almost anything which will definitely spark imagination in the children.
Encourage children to read books
“Reading stimulates the imagination and a good imagination can change the world in the most splendid of ways.”― Meredith Wood
Reading and storytelling with your child promotes brain development and is a great way to stimulate curiosity and enrich your child’s imagination. Encourage your children to visualize the book’s story, dress up and enact the scenes from stories. It’s a wonderful way to introduce them to a near infinity of worlds and characters to include in their imaginative play. As far as their thoughts go, they can imagine anything they want to be; from a pirate to a dinosaur or a starving caterpillar. Combine favourite books of children with props and toys to stimulate the imagination of children.
For instance, if your child loves fairy tale books, offer Magic wand and Prince or Princess costume, and it will amaze you, how quickly your child will turn into a fairy prince or the most beautiful fairy princess performing the magic deeds.
Research shows that reading can broaden the imagination by stimulating the right side of the brain, literally opening up opening the child’s mind to new ideas and possibilities helping children experience and analyze the world through other’s lives.
Let the children explore the outside world
Nature has inspired the imagination of some of humanity’s most brilliant artists, so why not our children?
You can create special little moments for your children and provide them with experiences to remember by connecting them with nature. It will help them think, question, make suppositions and spark their imagination. Nature provides countless opportunities for children to explore and imagine the world outside.
Remember our childhood days when we enjoyed stargazing and have imagined and created crazy shapes in stars at night?
I still remember the magical moments of our childhood, when I and my sisters used to spend hours with our parents looking at the sky during summer holidays to find the perfect clouds and let our imagination have fun with them. We would go ‘cloud hunting’, watch the clouds pass and identify shapes, animals, castles, scenes and more.
“Hey, look up at the clouds. What do you see? That one looks like a dragon to me!” my sister screamed with joy! “No, that looks like a dinosaur to me”, I exclaimed! Those were the thrilling moments of our life.
Cloud and stargazing are another way of sparking the imagination in children. Encourage children to come up with the silliest shapes for new star constellations or try to guess what each person sees in a cloud.
Be creative yourself. Since kids learn from watching their parents, show your child you value activities that sparks imagination by example. Start a new creative activity at home like cooking, baking, drawing, sculpting, or painting. The more you demonstrate creativity in your own life, the more important it will seem to your child and is also a great opportunity for the family to bond.
Foster a creative atmosphere at home
Always expecting the child to be seen and never heard is a quick way to kill imaginative ideas. Let your child problem-solve with you or include them in family decisions when it’s appropriate. This helps boost their confidence and you will never know what unique perspectives they will bring to the table.
At dinnertime, for example, you could brainstorm activities for the upcoming weekend, encouraging the kids to come up with things they have never done before.
Inspire Big Thoughts
For example:
a. “What do you think would happen if….?”
b. What’s the difference between dragon and dinosaur?”
c, “How do you come up with that solution?”
d. “Why did you decide to draw a dinosaur?”
Asking open-ended questions allow the children to solve problems and to think critically and come up with solutions creatively. This will also help them accept failure as an opportunity to iterate and to be better.