It’s good to let your child's imaginations run wild
Your child’s rich imagination might make you smile, especially when you consider the big benefits it could bring in adulthood — an ability to think outside the box, to be creative, to problem solve.
“These are huge skills to have as an adult in both personal and professional life,” says Niamh Fortune, lecturer at the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood Education at Maynooth University.
"She points to German educationalist Froebel’s assertion that “play is a child’s work”.
“Through play, a child develops imagination and creativity.
"They test out scenarios and make sense of the world — if something’s going on in their life, they can figure it out through play,” says Fortune, who cites “a lovely escapism”, development of social skills, and ability to write creatively as some of the childhood benefits of a nourished imagination.
She says three and four-year-olds will naturally fall into imaginative role play and easily go in and out of roles but, as they become older, they become more self-aware. This can reduce willingness to throw themselves into play.
To counter this, to encourage play and give free rein to the imagination, she recommends giving children open-ended toys (wooden blocks, puppets) and creating play corners in their bedroom/playroom: hospital corner, café corner.
“Avoid giving them all the tools. Keep it unstructured so they have to use their imagination to develop the play.”
If children aren’t naturally into imaginative play, parents can go into role with them (turn off all distractions): ‘I’m going to the surgery, I hurt my arm’ or ‘what’s nice to eat today in this café?’
Storytelling with props to develop the story is also great for developing imagination and enriching language — you’ve got an old shoe, the other one has gone missing, get your child to tell you the story of what happened to it.
Fortune is a huge advocate of reading as a spur to imagination. She recommends not being afraid of using picture books with older children and, when reading chapter-books (without pictures), ask them what it would look like if turned into a film — what would the characters/place look like.
* Make art with your child — paint, draw, build. Let them have free rein over their work.
* Get into nature/the garden — let them play with natural objects such as grass, leaves, pebbles, earth, wood.
* Don’t crowd their inner space — avoid overloading with TVs and computer. This way, they can create their own pictures.
* Tell stories — about your childhood, the family pet, Grandma. Even for a few minutes a couple of times a day will spark imagination.
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