What does it mean........
Take some time and pretend that you have become a child again! You are 3 or 4 years old you might be an only sibling or you might have brothers or sisters....
Personally I was brought up without a TV not by choice but circumstances lack of funds...was not a priority in our family at the time.....Thinking about it now it was the best thing that happened to us kids...!
Toys were not abundant ..but somehow we were never bored...our imagination was in full drive...I remember we did not have a Monopoly game..my brother created one from Cornflakes Boxes and whatever we could find...We were very creative...Personally I tried any sort of craft...next door we had a seamstress who was kind enough to have me in the school holidays and showed me her tricks of trade, I had a gorgeous Aunt who thought me the craft of knitting and crocheting which I tremendously enjoyed..Otherwise we spend great times together us kids talking and creating stuff together...
Have you ever stopped and looked at your kids while they are playing and watched how they played...? Do you have to be part of their play or are they capable of creating their own play --PRETEND PLAY--!
From my experience working with different kids...there were some who can play with a couple of toys and are happy and contented for a long period of time...they go into an imaginative place...and you see them use those couple of toys as mediums in their fantasy at the time..
- they might be in a fairy garden with their favorite doll and a couple of cups and saucers are having a great time in a park having a picnic..
- or a boy with a pirate figurine in his hand and a toy boat ...in another fantasy land playing pirates...
- group of kids playing in a corner pretending they are at a doctors surgery, each one of them taking it in turn to ...who is the doctor, or the patient..
- some might be more assertive and will take the role of the leader and some will be the followers...
- you catch another child drawing something on a piece of paper...and yo will probably hear them talk as he or she is drawing expressing their thoughts both verbally and artistically...
Then you might find other kids...who you can give them the world and they do not know what to do with it or with themselves...I found this type of kids a challenge.. Experience thought me that these type of kids are quite happy to run around outside kicking a ball, riding a bike etc etc...Try and bring them inside and offer them pretend play and you will find that they will be changing toys and going from one activity to another within a span of every 5mins...they cannot stay and play with an activity for a long period of time...I found in this case I had to work with them even more..challenge their imagination and their creativity...We all have some sort of creativity inside us it is just a matter of someone noticing it, encouraging it and helping an individual developing..it
I am going to stop here today...and will continue on this subject in another post...In the meantime would love you your input and comments...perhaps share some experiences you have with your own kids or otherwise!
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8 comments:
Really enjoyed this post!I do believe there is too much plastic junk in some children's lives these days (LOL I sound like a grumpy old woman ROFL). I'm not sure that having a doll that can articulate 50 phrases, or toys that do it all is fostering imagination.
Kids are amazing they can make something out of seemingly nothing! They can dig in the dirt and create worlds!
My kids are pretty good at creating their own pretend play- its amusing though- say if my daughter has "cooked" something (using mud. leaves, petals etc) she presents it as something will give it a name "Vegetable stew" or etc and be totally immersed in the make believe. Yet if I say Oh yum and put a spoon in to eat it- she will say don't really eat it-its just mud not REAL vegetable stew" LOL.
My mother recalls me being a little challenging as a kid, because my extremes were quite black & white. If I wasn't wanting to read a book or have a book read to me, I wanted to get dirty by playing with dirt, mud, my food, paint etc. Apparently, I had my own few sets of overalls lol.
My daughter is 11 months & I choose to limit the amount of plastic toys in her repertoire now. I offer her wooden alternatives & only 1 to 2 at a time. She will play for longer now than she used to when many toys of all different materials were on offer. I guess, by limiting her choice, she discovers a whole new world of enjoyment. Then if the weather is perfect, outdoors we go for playtime with nature & its fabulous textures.
Thank you MJ and Maria for your comments will take them on board in my follow up....
Beautiful post ... I really enjoyed reading it. It took me back to my childhood, as well as allowed me time to reflect on my own children's play. In fact only yesterday I enjoyed watching my 3YO and 18MthOld niece made all sorts of beautiful cakes with sand, azalea flowers, water, grass and a few rocks :) It was lovely!
This is a great post! I lived in PNG for a couple of years when I was a child. There was no TV and little power. I played for HOURS outside. I made leaf boats, I had imaginary friends and, as I recall it was the period of time that was the 'happiest' of my childhood.
Great post. The joys of being let loose with just our imaginations in tow, I love it.
I agree- it takes time to inspire creativity in you children. My little one is happy for hours outside but he flitters about inside and needs encouragement and a few creative ideas to get his juices flowing. Great post. xo m.
Some really interesting thoughts about imaginative play, you are right, children just live in a completely different time now and have so much more available to them, it is no wonder they sometimes don't know where to start or become distracted in their play.
Thank you for linking to We Play. Would love it if you could provide a link back so that your readers can share the other fab play ideas :)
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