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10 Easy Ways to Fire Your Child's Imagination


As parents, we know we should foster our children's imaginations  -- but our busy lives often don't seem to have a place for creativity that isn't tied to productivity. Schools, too, don't know how to tackle the not-so-tangible subject.

"I think when you present the idea of imagination to parents, they are generally in favor of it," says Thomas Armstrong, author of Awakening Your Child's Natural Genius ($15, J.P. Tarcher). "Yet when you probe a little deeper and center in on how much time parents and teachers wish to allocate to imagination in the schools, you find a very different attitude." Of course, imagination is something we should all favor. Child-development experts unanimously celebrate the benefits of a healthy imagination. A child with a good imagination is happier and more alert, better able to cope with life's twists and turns, and more likely to grow into a well-adjusted, secure adult.

"Imagination allows children to develop forces of creativity," says Eugene Schwartz, director of teacher-education programs at Sunbridge College, which trains teachers specifically for Waldorf Schools  -- schools known for their systematic nurturing of imagination and creativity in children from kindergarten through twelfth grade. "And that means as adults they are going to be creative individuals."



The Basics

Tell stories. "You don't need a beautifully illustrated book; you don't need a video," says Schwartz. "It's the one-on-one connection, the parent and the child, with the story mediating, that takes us back to the archetype of all education, of all human relationships, in which the older generation passes on the wisdom to the next generation." Storytelling may well be the cornerstone of imaginative development, and doing it well and in a variety of ways is something you can do almost every day  -- even if it is only in brief moments.

Make art.

Paint, draw, mold, build, sculpt. Tactile experiences are important, and giving young children free rein over their work is crucial  -- don't force a yellow splotch on a page to be a sun, for example.

Use natural or generic materials.

Keeping kids in touch with objects from nature inherently inspires their imagination. So does play with open-ended toys  -- such as blocks or sand  -- that have endless possibilities.

Foster a sense of inner space.

Parents should keep young children in particular from being overloaded by images from the media, whether it's television, movies, or computers. "We have to leave kids with enough of an inner space to create their own pictures, their own vision," says Schwartz. "What goes on too often is that we are not turning children into creators; we're turning them into consumers."


Once you are armed with the above tools, try these 10 activities. Consider them a stepping-stone  -- you can do as many things to foster your child's imagination as your own imagination can dream up.

1. Unpuppets.

Gather a box of assorted household items  -- a strainer, a shoe box, paper cups, a flashlight, whatever you can think of that's not sharp or fragile  -- and have your child create a puppet show using these objects as the "puppets." You'll be amazed at the creatures and characters your child creates.

2. Wacky photos.

Raid your drawers for old photographs that no one will miss  -- the ones where someone had his eyes closed or had a bad hair day  -- and let your child cut them into various bits and pieces. Then get out some glue, construction paper, and markers and have her turn the stray faces and body parts into new people, or create a fantasy picture. You might suggest a general setting such as outer space or a medieval castle, then let your child create the image.

3. Nature story.


4. Big box.


5. Fold-a-creature.


6. Art tales.


7. Junk-drawer game.

Everyone has a junk drawer (or two or three). It could be one of those spare drawers in the kitchen or the top desk drawer in your child's room. Have your child go through one drawer and pick out a dozen of the oddest, most lost-looking small objects he can find  -- the less anyone knows what the things originally came from and what they were for, the better. Get a big sheet of cardboard or poster board, some markers, and some dice, and have your child invent a game using all the found pieces. Then sit down and play together.

8. Brush-less painting.


9. Reinventing the solar system.


10. Hidden stories.

Have your child spend 15 minutes hunting around the house for three objects he either hasn't noticed or hasn't paid much attention to before. They should come from one of the common rooms of the house, not from anyone's bedroom, and they shouldn't be fragile. When time is up, have him present you with the objects one by one. Your job is to tell him a story about that object  -- where it came from, who it came from, where you were when you got it, why you might have kept it, and just about anything at all. Do that for all three objects. Then have him make a story  -- either with words or pictures  -- that ties all three objects together.
