Why do kids have imagination

Or turning a giant cardboard box into a house, a boat, or a rocket ship? They can pretend to save the world, be mythical creatures, or act out scenarios they observe in their everyday life, mimicking parents, teachers, or grocery store clerks.

Imagination aids in the development of social, emotional, creative, physical, lingual, and problem-solving skills in children. But mostly, playing pretend is fun for kids. Learn more about how it supports many different aspects of child development :.

Here are some imaginative play ideas and pretend play games you can use to foster creativity and problem-solving in your kids:. Playgrounds are ideal environments for imaginative play, encouraging physical activity, and creativity. Playground equipment can become a house, a fort, a secret hideaway, a bus — or whatever children imagine it to be.

It creates the setting for all sorts of role-playing, imagining, and nurturing creativity. Contact Miracle Recreation for more information about the right playground equipment for you. We can help you find a playground that fits in your space and budget, and that encourages lots of imaginative play. Contact Us. The Importance of Imagination in Child Development Imagination is an essential component of childhood, helping children learn many important lifelong skills.

Read the full article or jump to a specific section: What is Imaginative Play? When children play pretend with others, they work on skills like cooperation, negotiation, collaboration, and sharing of responsibilities. Pretend play is a great way for children to test their boundaries, learn to control impulses and experiment with social interaction. If offered new tools that require an effort, many children choose to continue using their old avoidance tactics with which they are more comfortable.

From their perspective these strategies have been successful. Current psychological approaches used with children for anxiety, notably cognitive-behavioural, seem to take the motivation factor for granted. The children are brought to the therapy and given tools. This may work for adults, who, usually come to therapy of their own accord and know the personal cost of avoidance.

Children frequently do not understand this. No matter how much adults tell them, they do not believe it, because their experience tells them that the anxiety diminishes the minute they avoid whatever is making them anxious.

Children typically do not look far into the future nor do they think about the long term consequences to any of their behaviours. Has anyone ever convinced a 9 year old boy to do his homework because it might lead to a better job in his future? Rarely do they think about ten years from now. Many parents come to my office asking me to give the child tools and strategies.

I refrain from giving these too early. There are many useful tools, many of which can be found in the excellent cognitive therapy manuals for children See Kendall, P. You need to tame it. You need to be in charge.

Not much! Once this point is successfully made, many children then go through a significant transformation. For the next few sessions we work on how to get control of the imagination, understanding why imaginations like to create scary scenarios, how to be respectful of the imagination but still show it that you are in charge.

I also introduce concrete tools for steering the imagination in other directions. Pretend a spoon is a car, or pretend that you are Mickey Mouse or Ronald Reagan. Ideas To Go is an innovation agency that works with Fortune companies in ideation and concept development to incorporate the voice of the consumer. Ideas To Go is an innovation agency that leads start-ups to Fortune companies through insights exploration, ideation, and idea and concept development while incorporating the voice of the consumer.

Articles on Innovation. Ideas To Go. Page 1 Created with Avocode. Think Like a Kid! She shared some of her findings with me: Dr. Executive function involves a few mental processes: Working memory — the ability to hold things in mind. Inhibitory control — the ability to stop or suppress an action that might be the first choice. Flexibility — the ability to nimbly shift your focus of attention to adapt to a new, or difficult situation.

Kids were told they could either have one marshmallow immediately, or if they waited until the researcher returned, they could have more. The kids were observed by the researcher during the waiting period. Kids who successfully waited used imagination to help them. They would pretend to eat the treat, or feed it to an imaginary friend.

Then the kids were given a task related to executive function, and their performance on the task was rated. Then, the kids were all asked to do the same executive function task. The kids who were told to pretend did significantly better on the executive function task.

So again, using imagination is actually helping their self-control. All rights reserved. Most Recent. Can you mix up a color that matches your mood? Where do you want to display your painting? What will you name it? The Goal: Channel Bob the Builder and have kids construct anything from a pet playhouse to a cute castle for toys—just by reusing old cardboard boxes and recycling scraps.

Let them go wild customizing it any way they please—trapdoors, swings, whatever! The Supplies: Cardboard boxes, paper-towel and toilet-paper tubes, wooden craft sticks, egg cartons, paper cups, glue tape. Guide Them: "How can you make the house sturdy so it won't fall down? What kinds of visitors will your house have, and how can you design it to work for them? How would they move from one level to the next? Creative exercise by Carol Murphy, founder of Acting Bugs, a drama enrichment program for kids.

The Goal: It's showtime! Have your kid act out their own ocean adventure, improvising what they'll discover and the characters that they'll encounter. Warning, parents: Chances are high you'll get roped into playing best supporting sea creature. The Supplies: Blanket; shoebox; costume jewelry and coins; beach towels; shovel and pail; blue, purple, and green streamers; oven mitts.

Guide Them: "Who or what might you see on a trip to the ocean? What might happen if you were swallowed by a whale? How would different sea creatures sound and move? What would different noises sound like underwater?

Save Pin FB More. Credit: Dane Tashima. Magic Mixies Magic Cauldron. Credit: Priscilla Gragg. Credit: Thayer Allyson Gowdy. Credit: Sabrina Helas. Parents magazine. By Jacquelyn Mitchard and Cassie Hurwitz.