Imagination Creation: Your Toddler’s Fantasy World
Jun 11th, 2008 by Kelli Matthews
I can see Braxton’s toddler imagination working overtime. He’s developing stories and creating narratives about cars and trains, dogs and clouds. I pick up a word here or there, but for the most part, it’s all about him.
As I see this part of his personality developing, I wonder how I can foster his imagination and keep his creativity flowing. I remember playing for hours with my siblings, cousins and neighbors in our own fantasy world and that’s carried over into adulthood as curiosity, optimism and problem solving.
ParentCenter had a great article about this topic last week and I thought I’d share some of the tips with you here.
Read books together: We all know this is important for vocabulary and language development. Think about why you read for pleasure, though - for me it’s an escape - to visit far off lands and imagine unknown people and situations. For your kiddo, it’s the same. We have a book called Jungle Drums
Share stories together: Making up stories is just as good as reading a book together. Your toddler will help develop a sense of possibility and encourage the basics of creating a plot and characters. Tall Tales Audio has some great tips for getting started, like keep it simple (just four or five sentences for the littlest ones and try copying the format of nursery rhymes for ideas); use familiar people and places; put your child at the center and have fun and be silly!.
Celebrate his artwork: Ask your child to interpret - whether than “is that an X?” (you’ll be wrong) ask him to tell you about what he drew. Braxton loves to color. It doesn’t matter if it’s chalk, crayons, washable markers or just a pen from mom’s bag, he’s always drawing. Of course, he’s 2, so he never draws anything recognizable, but it’s still fun for him to imagine what he’s drawing and tell me about it. If you’re really interested, you can check out this home video of his artistic endeavors.
Make music: Even if it’s too early for formal lessons, you can still be musical together. Sing, dance and listen to music together.
For more tips from ParentCenter, visit the article. What do you do to help encourage imagination? Or what fun imagination fueled play have you and your kids had together?
Photo from my living room (yes, I was in the middle of laundry!). Braxton, age 2.
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Great post! My mother, son’s Nana, lives a couple of states away and we talk with her on the phone every night. Nicholas, my son, has started to describe his days to her in minute detail, and has started telling her stories. He turned three last weekend, and on the way home from his birthday party, he picked up his toy phone and “talked” with Nana about his party and all his presents. We also do a lot of story-telling around characters he already loves (Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web, Lightening McQueen, Nemo, etc.).
Sherry
When you read books together, ask your child to read the book to you after you have already read it to them. Often my daughter will fill in new details based on illustrations or tell me I skipped a page and delve into a new story. Also, this practice has given Merrick an appreciation for books and excitement to read on her own.