Your Child's Imagination

The child’s imagination – what a powerful force!

A child’s imagination is untamed. Parenting should not tame it but encourage it. Your child can use his imagination for play, for goal setting and much more.

Here are some parenting tips for encouraging imagination and imaginative play in your child.

1. Music and Imagination

Listen to a classical song with your child. Close your eyes together and ask your child to use her imagination to create a story in her mind to go along with the music.

2. Art and Imagination

Dress your child in a smock and give him a safe place to paint, where he can really get into creating without you worrying about the mess. Now encourage him to use lots of colours! Rather than instructing him on how to make his pictures “look more accurate”, praise him for his use of colour and form, however abstract his work looks.

3. Child’s Play

Imagination takes over when a child is at play, so when she talks to you about her games encourage wild imagination and thinking instead of bringing her down to earth with comments about “that’s not real” or “you can’t actually do that”.

4. Play the Cloud Imagination Game

On a warm summer’s day, what better way to stimulate your child’s imagination and get some nice time out than to lie on your back with him in the garden or a field, watch the clouds passing by and share with your child what your respective imaginations are inventing for you to see in each strangely shaped cloud!

5. Your very own child’s imagination

Now it’s your turn! As a parent you are the one who knows your child best. What special ways can you encourage your own child’s imagination that she will really enjoy?

A child’s imagination – some great quotes:

“Open your child's imagination. Open a book." Anonymous

”One of the virtues of being very young is that you don't let the facts get in the way of your imagination.” Sam Levenson

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Pablo Picasso

”I can open a child's imagination … that's the poet's job." Arnold Adoff