Imagination

“Logic will get you from point A to point B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” ---- Albert Einstein.

I am a firm believer that children learn and grow more in every area of their lives through the use of their imaginations than by any other form. Anyone who has been around small children has most likely been exposed to imaginary role play or ‘pretending’. Although some role play may seem to be gender-specific, most of the time it is not so in children’s minds. Almost every child at some point in their development has prepared a pretend food, meal or drink and served it to a participant in their play acting. Whether the item is completely imaginary, invisible to the human eye, or not, is irrelevant to the child. They serve it to their playmate as if it were real, and fully expect the item to be taken and consumed in their presence.
Some children are more expressive in their imaginative actions than others. For example, when Gabriel was three years old he would pretend he was everything from a fire truck (not the driver, but the actual truck) to animals, such as dogs and cats. He would make the sounds of the truck as he went through the house, and even announced that he would like to be a fire truck when he ‘grew up’. Even though he is now seven, he still asks if he can be my pet dog, and if I comply he will insist on being ‘named’ and will only respond from that point forward as if he were really a dog. If I forget and call him Gabriel, or ask something of him that a dog could not answer or perform, he simply barks, or lets his tongue hang out as he pants and cocks his head. At that moment in time he ‘is’ a dog in his own mind.

Boys and girls in their early years pretend to take on many different roles, from parenting and other family-oriented roles to acting the part of many career positions. They fully engage in these activities as if they were real. When playing outside they can create their own cities, countries, or sometimes even other worlds. As far as they are concerned, there is no limit to the world that exists through their imaginations. Nothing is thought to be impossible.

Of course, knowledge is important – from facts that can be memorized to the concepts found within mathematics, science and technology, or even the grammatical constructs of the English language. However, knowledge is but a tool – and without imagination is void of producing anything of real value. It is obvious that technology is now growing at an exponential rate; but without imagination – the ability to see beyond what is in the present form of reality – this knowledge would never take on a visibly new form.

What the paint brush is to the artist, knowledge is to the imaginative soul. A mind may be full of facts and concepts, the ‘tools’, but without an ‘idea’ formed visibly within the conscious awareness of thought, it can never be applied to the canvas of life. As grandparents, or another 'significant other’, in children’s lives, we have the opportunity to help develop and continue to nurture a child’s imagination throughout their entire life. The schools, and parents, may be able to encourage some creativity, but with all the other responsibilities in teaching and training that belong to them they don’t have the time or resources to devote a great amount of time to the development of imagination.

Perhaps that is yet another reason why going to ‘Grandma’s House’ is such an attraction to children of all ages. It is there they can ‘be themselves’ to create, experiment, and explore their world without the regular responsibilities and confines of a more structured environment. Both are necessary, of course; but, what an awesome privilege it is indeed to be able to engage in one of the most exiting, adventurous and fun elements of our children’s lives. I trust you will look for and find as many ways as possible to encourage the use of imagination as you spend time with the children or grandchildren who are in your life. And, I hope I can persuade you to share a few comments regarding some of the imaginative activities in which you and your children or grandchildren have been involved…………and perhaps stretch your own imagination even further!