Listening to my three-year-old daughter tell stories and watching her create different objects from building blocks, I feel so proud of my child’s imagination and creativity. At the same time, I feel that I need to encourage this so that she continues to use her imagination skills as she grows up.
I have come to understand that imagination can contribute to my child’s future. It is through imagination that my child becomes creative and versatile. In this world where there is a constant demand for new inventions and new discoveries, a creative person can find his or her way to success in any field. Through imagination, she can develop her creativity, focus, attention and visualization which will allow her to achieve her goals in life.
Furthermore, imagination can lead her to understand complicated situations, solve problems and become a better thinker. It allows my child to have a sense of control over her life.
Having imagination skills is really important for a child. But as parents, how do we improve our child’s imagination skills? Good thing, much literature is readily available for parents to answer this question.
I have compiled practical steps for parents to take in leading one’s child to the path of imagination and creativity.
Read poems and stories to your child
Buy good children’s books that contain the best stories and poems for children and read these out to your child. As your child listens to you and looks at the illustrations in the book, she develops her imagination, creativity and literacy skills. She also becomes interested in reading and in words as she grows older.
Engage your child in arts and crafts
Provide age-appropriate art and craft materials such as pencils, pens, papers, crayons, water color, brushes, color pencils, markers, scissors and many more to help your child draw, write and express his or her imagination. Aside from this, you can introduce your child to origami and paper cutting techniques. Through arts and crafts, children learn that they can create and design something beautiful out of the ordinary and little things. Make sure that you appreciate the artworks that your child has produced by hanging or displaying it on the wall or in a special place. This will encourage him or her to continue using her creativity and imagination skills.
Provide open-ended and movement-oriented toys
Purchase toys that allow your children to use their cognitive skills. Toys such as building blocks, clay and mud-dough, and musical instruments are some of the best open-ended toys. Building blocks allow your children to distinguish colors, acquire motor and cognitive skills, improve hand and muscle coordination, and develop creativity. Clay and mud-dough aid in applying imagination to form various objects. Musical instruments such as keyboards, drums, tambourines, whistles, maracas, and xylophones will enable your child to create music. Build up your collection while your child is still young. On the other hand, toys such as jumping ropes, hula-hoops and balls could also be provided for children to play outdoor games.
Play challenging games with your kid
As your child grows older, spend some time playing with her using puzzles, boards and strategy games that will challenge your child’s problem-solving skills. Puzzles lead your child to learn about colors, and to use cognitive and mathematical skills. Board games are ideal for the whole family to interact and have fun while stimulating young minds to concentrate, focus and solve problems.
Introduce your child to writing
When your child is of school age, introduce him or her to writing. You can start by showing your child a picture and asking him or her to describe what he or she sees in the picture and what he or she feels upon seeing it. Encourage him or her to write down his or her thoughts whenever he or she wants to express something. In this way, your child will improve in problem-solving, logical thinking, and creative thinking skills which are required in writing.
This list of enhancing your child’s imagination skills is not all-encompassing. You can add to this as you find more ways to bring up an imaginative and creative child.