Children love to play make-believe, but some children are a bit more… imaginative than others! Imaginative children are generally more creative, better problem-solvers, and more confident than their peers, so child psychologists emphasize the need for imaginative play. Sadly, the modern world’s fixation on television, video games, and highly structured activities tends to stifle, rather than encourage, imagination. Here are some imaginative activities for kids to help them grow and develop their creativity!
Dress Up
Dress-up and let’s pretend games have fostered imagination activities for kids for centuries. Encourage them to create their own imaginary worlds with a trunk of dress-up clothing. Old Halloween costumes, interesting clothing from thrift stores, and a selection of hats and accessories can keep kids occupied for hours. You could even decorate the outside of your trunk yourselves!
Reading, but with a twist ;)
Reading encourages children to actively use their imagination in ways movies and television simply cannot. Reading introduces children to a near infinity of worlds and characters to include in their imaginative play, while encouraging them to visualize the book’s story. A television story doesn’t require any mental effort from a child, but books ask them to imagine locations, acts, voices, and feelings.
Combine favourite books with props and toys stimulates pretend play. For instance, if your child loves a pirate book, offer toy ships, bandanas, and a plastic sword and you have all the ingredients needed for swashbuckling adventures on the high seas.
Boxes
Few toys hold the imaginative possibilities of a large cardboard box. To a child, a large box is a fort, a rocket ship, a palace, or a secret headquarters. Boxes just seem to generate imagination activities for kids.
If you don’t have a large box, ask your local furniture or appliance store if they have any boxes you can take. children can decorate the box with crayons and markers, and you can help cut out needed windows, doors, or portholes.
Cloud and Star-Gazing
People have created shapes in the stars and clouds for millennia. Grab a couple of blankets, lie on your back with the kids, and ask them what they see. Have contests to see who can come up with the silliest shapes for new star constellations, or try to guess what each person is. You could also try and draw what you see afterwards!
Arts and Crafts
We’re big on children’s crafts, but right now we’re not talking about the kinds of artwork that requires close supervision from adults. Instead, we’re talking about providing children with paint, pencils, or clay and letting them create their own masterpieces.
Sure, the resulting art may not be as nice or well-formed as more complicated, adult-led crafts, but that’s not the point. You’re allowing your child to explore creativity on her own terms, which helps build a healthy imagination. Of course, you could drop them in one of our Young Art Makers afterschool clubs as well!
Spend Time Outdoors
Why not make the most of the weather while you can?
Nature has inspired the imagination of some of humanity’s most brilliant artists, so why not your child? Ever-changing, the great outdoors offers all manner of opportunities to explore and play, as well as an ongoing source of all-natural leaves, twigs, and flowers for art projects.
Let Them Get Bored
As parents, we’re expected to provide scheduled activities for children on a near continuous basis, as if boredom is the greatest disaster we could afflict on a child.
It isn’t. In fact, allowing children to get bored can stimulate their imagination. Cries of “I’m bored” can be met with a challenge to use their resourcefulness and creativity to entertain themselves. If you’ve already primed them to use their imagination, children will think of something to do (or something they aren’t supposed to do—it pays to keep an eye on things, just in case)!
Marlen Vasilopoulou, Director of Music