I Can Only Imagine...

Recently I went to a little get together, where the point came up that kids toys today are filled with noise, buttons to push, and toys that already tell the stories for our kids. The point being made was that while these toys are fun, they sometimes take away from our kids abilities to really utilize their imaginations.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE GOOD IDEAS TO INVITE IMAGINATION?

Here are the things I have tried and had FUN FUN FUN doing..

1) If your child draws a picture, ask them follow-up questions, such as: what is your picture about? What happened next? What is your guys name? (some of my favorites are names like Planet Jupiter Reptile, Bugman, Super guy who flies)

2) Have a bowl of words (like ice cream, frog, truck, etc...) Each member of the family makes up a ten second song about their word

3) Sit and play. This is sometimes hard for me because of the internal dialogue of small children, but I am learning and have had some great imagination moments with my kids.

4) Let them create their own rules and their own games, even if you don't understand. Recently my four year old played  a game with my Mom where he was the triangle, she was the octagon, and they had to jump on the blanket, and you could use tornadoes and each have a super power....Do you get it? Me either! but...he got it and could explain it to you)

This is Lincoln and Henry playing with my toilet paper holders ( actually they informed me these were towers for their super hero guys to climb on), a bowl, and some sort of utensil.

Tuesdays in Tucson
Imagining with my Super Heroes Lincoln and Henry,

Brandi