What fosters imagination?

[LynnS6]

What fosters imagination in children?

This question is spawned by my realization that our neighbor children have NO imagination. Zilch. Zip. I don't know why it took me so long to realize it, but it does explain why I find hanging out with them to be excruciatingly dull. :

Long backstory: the lack of imagination was really brought home last night -- we were at the park with our neighbors, and the kids were climbing etc. But for my kids, the play structure is really just a place to play imaginative kinds of games. Ds (age 5) delivers packages in his "FedEx truck" or drives a "fire truck" or sets up an ice cream stand. Dd mostly just climbs (she's 2), but she too loves to play ice cream stand or pretend to have a picnic.

Dd sat down at the picnic table and I said "OK, what are we having for our picnic", and the neighbor kids (4 year old twins and a 7 year old) said "but we don't have any food". "ummm.. we can pretend!" I said. Meanwhile ds was busy gathering the clover that we use as 'food' when we're playing alone, and dd was busy gathering the wood chips that serve the same purpose. The neighbor kids caught on pretty easily, mind you, but they would never have done this on their own.

Their parents do not play with them. They monitor them, but they really don't play with them in any way. Do you need adult modeling to have imagination?

I'm mostly just curious. Imaginative play has never, ever been an issue for my kids. (Or for anyone in my extended family -- we tend to the other, Walter Mitty-esque extreme.)

So what fosters imagination? Since we're going to be spending a fair amount of time with these kids over the next several years, I'd like to make it more interesting if I can!

[dantesmama]

Well, I don't have any older children yet, but when my sister and I were children we were taught to read a lot, and were given quite a bit of open-ended playtime. I think that's why we had such wild imaginations. It seems as if most of the toys out today stifle creativity instead of encouraging it, kwim? As a child, the best toy I could imagine would have been, say, a big refrigerator box!
Spending time with your children will probably encourage the neighbors' children's imaginations to develop (sorry, clumsy sentence!) - if not, hopefully your kids will find new friends. :

[4evermom]

I have a suspicion that some people just come more reality based than others. I think imagination can certainly be encouraged but some kids may just not be wired that way.

[rzberrymom]

IMO, lack of tv, dvds, computer and video games.

[AppleOrangePear]

Imagination IS a part of childhood however many THESE DAYS are lacking the make believe. There could be many reasons for this however like the above poster stated the lack can be from computerized toys , tv etc. Children especially young do not need a toy to do something for them. You know like at christmas a child chooses box over a toy. They thrive on things that can be many things just not one thing.

Parents can encourage it by setting up the home, not cluttered with toys and such, cut down on tv etc....

Lack of imagination can causes delays in academic areas as they are older. ( some may disagree but it can) THe way child read, reading comprehension, and more.

Every developing child should have some type of imagination if there is none that is honestly a concern. there are many developmental disorders that the child does not have any imagination and can only understand factual things.

Imagination will also flourish more if academics are not pushed at such an early age and the child is allowed the wonderful opportunity of free play and such

michele

[4evermom]

Originally Posted by rzberrymom

IMO, lack of tv, dvds, computer and video games.

My ds has unlimited access to those and has a great imagination (and no he isn't just reennacting plots from shows) so it isn't that simple, IMO, but I'm sure the lack can help borderline "cases". (Not trying to get into tv debate, just saying kids are very different and the neighbors may never be able to develop imagination )

[Roar]

Originally Posted by rzberrymom

IMO, lack of tv, dvds, computer and video games.

I agree.

Also, open ended toys, plenty of time to play, and parents who read and talk to kids.

[Roar]

Originally Posted by 4evermom

I have a suspicion that some people just come more reality based than others. I think imagination can certainly be encouraged but some kids may just not be wired that way.

We didn't though commonly have kids forty years ago that didn't know to engage in imaginative play - this is really something new.

[AppleOrangePear]

this is really something new.

WOW! Hopefully i am reading this wrong however are you actually saying that imagination is something new and that kids didnt foster it years and years ago?

Well as a former childs therapist if that is what you are saying that is wrong. Its part of child development and always has be...

As for the above poster saying that tv doesnt interfere with imagination it certainly can. Every second watching tv takes away from a childs free will to build upon his imagination.

There are certain stages a child develops through and imagination being one of them/

Pretend play and imagination IS important and always has been part of the human race : O )

Michele

[AppleOrangePear]

Without those children that do have flourishing imaginations we wouldnt have the benefits of wonderful inventors Such as Thomas Edison.

Inventors use imagination, science uses imagination imagination is important and needed.......

Michele

[Roar]

Originally Posted by ArlyShellandKai

WOW! Hopefully i am reading this wrong however are you actually saying that imagination is something new and that kids didnt foster it years and years ago?

Michele

Yes, you are reading it wrong. I was responding to the poster that said some people just aren't imaginative by suggesting that while people vary it is really something new for many children not to know how to play.

I said: We didn't though commonly have kids forty years ago that didn't know to engage in imaginative play - this is really something new.

[AppleOrangePear]

ROAR:





thanks for clearing that up I thought thats what you meant however with my prego brain these days i get easily :

michele

[Tinas3muskateers]

I cannot recall a time my parents actually "played" with me. I do remember my cousins and I pretending all the time though. So I think its just part of who you are.

[sunnmama]

I can't remember my parents playing pretend with me, either. In fact, I don't play pretend with dd very much anymore, either. I was an extremely imaginative child, and dd is as well. In fact, she has a family of imaginary dragons with whom to play pretend .

I tend to believe that imagination is natural, and will develop unless something inhibits it. Of course, each child (person) is different, and some will naturally be more imaginative than others. I believe that children need freedom (time) and insipiration (other children, props to manipulate, stories, etc) for imagination to develop fully..... and that too much media, overscheduling, criticism, etc can inhibit it.

[BohoMama]

IMO, Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales are the imagination's first nourishment and get the "let's pretend" scripts going.

*See Bruno Bettleheim's The Uses of Enchantment

Agree with other posters on the benefits of limiting toys and media. I think spending as much time as possible outdoors is also beneficial - sound mind, sound body.

As for parents playing with kids, that varies a lot by culture. There are many, many cultures where parents do not play with their kids, and those kids do not lack imagination, or ideas on how to play. The Continuum Concept goes into this somewhat.

We are learning about Waldorf philosophy, etc. and their theories go into detail on how media negatively influences kids, and how the recent media-influenced generations are the only ones in which kids who are unable to play have been created. Presumably, following their prescriptions for a healthy family lifestyle will help prevent or treat playlessness.

[insahmniak]

Here's our experience:

The just-turned-3 year old in the house is in an imaginative world almost constantly -- well, when she's not immediately involved with something like eating. But even then she's often a character from a book or a friend she's met at the playground the other day, eating a fish she just caught out of the ice-cold lake...or something.

At first, when she was in her early two's, she took stories right out of books and enacted them. Gradually, she added her own details, changed up the characters, changed up the scenes. We tell stories often, too, from our history and sometimes things we make up, and she incorporates these stories as well.

The way she has always read books is to read them over and over and over and over and over, until she has it completely committed to memory. Then she tells the story and then she modifies it. She then OWNS all the elements of the story as part of her imagination.

Now, she is often telling us stories she makes up, like, "When I was a little tiny baby, my mom took me to this place in China where colorful fish fly up into the air with wings." In complete seriousness and completely out of the blue, and simply as part of the conversation we may be having in the car or at dinner.

We read A LOT.

We have no tv. She doesn't watch movies or videos or play on computers. Maybe that will change, but for now we're happy with things as they are.

Right now she's walking around buck naked, singing and narrating her imagination. "Fishtail walked to the cabin to meet Angeline..."

[lisac77]

My son watches plenty of TV, and yet he still engages in imaginative, creative play every day. I do play with him and I see how he branches out with his imagination. It runs the gamut from shows he watches on TV to books we've read together, to stuff he just makes up on his own. So just the fact that kids watch TV doesn't mean that they are not creative nor does it mean they can't play creatively and imaginatively.

[onlyzombiecat]

I think part of it is personality.

I do think parents have a role in helping imagination along- maybe not playing directly with the children but going along with it.
I think listening & talking about things that are pretend helps.

Providing opportunities for open ended play and encouraging things to be used in multiple ways. I know adults who get hung up on toys being used a certain way. The train track, legos, or craft need to match the picture on the box and in the game you have to follow the instructions and play the right way.

When your child asks "why is the sky blue" responding by asking your child why they think it is blue instead of just giving the answer is good for helping them to imagine IMO.

My dd is much more imaginative than many children we know. I don't know for sure what the difference is. Dd has fewer electronic toys. We don't tell her that what she is doing or saying is not the "right way". We do a lot of listening.

[LynnS6]

I agree that opportunities for open ended play, good books and parents who listen and encourage help. Our kids get an hour of 'screen time' a day, and sometimes use it all, sometimes not.

But maybe some is just personality. Maybe it's because I do encourage it and 'play along' even if I'm doing something like making dinner. (I can still ask questions and listen to their stories.)

Our neighbors do have more 'electronic' toys than we do, but the kids do appear to get time for unstructured play. It's just that they don't know what to do with it. The parents aren't great at listening (in fact at the park they were 'complaining' that one of their 4 year olds was chattering all the way to the park), and I don't know if they insist on 'single right use' for toys. But they certainly don't do anything to encourage imaginative play (maybe that's why I find them so dull too?

The 'good news' is that this is the casual, summer kind of friendship. Our kids won't be going to the same schools, and they are of different ages, so in a few years I'm expecting them to drift naturally apart, or just play sports in the street with the rest of the kids.

I just find it odd that I spent my evening yesterday pretending to be the owner of a "dog" who went to Mt. St. Helens and had it explode 3 times (all our son's idea) and the most creative thing they could think of to do at the park was to 'go for a walk'. Sad really.

[boongirl]

I doubt the neighbor kids have literally no imagination. They probably just don't use it as much as yours and maybe not at all in front of you. They may be shy or nervous in front of others. They may have had their imaginative play chastised by someone and that has hampered their self confidence. They may feel overwhelmed by the way your kids play. They may sense your criticism of their play and have decided to be cautious about what they show you and your kids. They may just be not as interested in imaginative play as your kids.

Kids come into the world with an imagination. How they use it depends on their environment. Instead of feeling sorry for the neighbor kids, help them to feel good about being imaginative and playful. They may just need that boost of self confidence.