Children today can take part in an endless variety of activities. From computer games to piano lessons, and from soccer practice to karate, there is no shortage of skills for kids to learn. However, children also need regular playtime that is not focused on structure, skill building or electronics. While those things are all good for children, too much can crowd out the kind of play that is essential for developing one of the most amazing gifts of childhood: imagination.
Does imagination play a role in learning and success in life? In a word, yes.
According to Dorothy Singer, professor of psychology at Yale University and co-author of The House of Make Believe: Children's Play and the Developing Imagination, children who actively use their imagination reap a host of benefits, such as playing cooperatively and being successful in school.
Do children still have the time and initiative today to fight pretend dragons, have an imaginary friend, or dress up as a fairy tale princess? Or is plain old imagination fighting a losing battle with iPods, video games, organized sports and T.V. shows? Just what is so important about imagination?
Here are some amazing benefits that come from developing the imagination:
- Imagination helps school-age children solve problems by helping them think through different outcomes to various situations and role playing ways to cope with difficult or new circumstances.
- Imagination allows children to practice real-life skills. From shopping at a pretend grocery store to assigning roles and dialogue to dolls or puppets, children's pretend play helps them practice and apply new learning and better understand how those skills are used in the real world.
- Imagination encourages a rich vocabulary. Telling and hearing real or made-up stories, reading books and pretend play help children learn and retain new words.
- Imagination helps children grow up to be adults who are creative thinkers. Adults who were imaginative children often become problem solvers, innovators and creative thinkers.
As you can see, imagination can often be as important as math, science or reading. Despite how it sometimes looks to adults, imaginative and pretend play helps develop many important skills that boost a child's learning and success.
Don't miss Part Two of this "Imagination" series, "Easy and Fun Ways to Encourage Imagination in Children." Use the suggestions to help you create opportunities for the children in your home or classroom to stretch their imaginations.
Jaime L. Hebert - Jaime L. Hebert is a former educator who uses her teaching background to fuel her freelance writing career.
