“Imagination is more important than knowledge,” said the great Albert Einstein. Imagination is the power that makes you think outside of the box and strive for the unachieved. The importance of imagination in children is humongous. Experts believe that it plays a vital role in the brain development and personality growth of kids. A creative and imaginative child can excel in every field as an adult.
The top 6 advantages of developing imagination power in your kids
1. Development of Social Skills & Empathy
Parents often find it challenging to develop social skills in kids. However, it is possible to make them relate and empathise with people and scenarios around them through the power of imagination. You can ask them to think about the hardships of a poor boy, a soldier, or their mother who takes care of everyone in the house. This way, they will start respecting other people and will be able to find ways of getting along with others.
READ: 3 of the Most Effective Ways to teach Assertiveness for kids
2. Development of Creative Thinking
Creativity is not limited to writing, painting, or any other art. Creative thinking helps you in solving complicated problems as well. If you give importance to developing imagination in a child, he or she will be able to think outside of the box. As a result, when your kids become adults, they will always have a different and better perspective on any issues or problems they face in their personal or professional lives.
3. Development of Motor Skills
One way of igniting imagination power in kids is to engage them in presentations, plays, and role-plays. When they express themselves as different characters and in different situations, they use their body a lot. For example, climbing like superheroes or jumping like animals will enhance their gross and fine motor skills. They can also pretend to be non-living things like coins and dolls to self-regulate their movements and behaviour.
4. Development of Language & Communication Skills
When you let kids wander in their imaginary world, they will encounter situations other than their day-to-day scenes. When kids try to express or explain their fantasies or fairy tales, they learn to join one sentence with another. They might also experiment with the written and oral forms of communication. All this will boost their language and communication skills in kids.
5. Development of Problem-solving Abilities
When you ask your child to create something with their imagination, they will face some roadblocks. For instance, if they will make a story, they might not be able to think the next twist. Or if they will build any castle or fort with craft, they will come across difficulties. Overcoming each challenge will hone their problem-solving abilities and creative thinking skills.
6. Development of Self-confidence & Boldness
If you observe child’s imagination psychology, you will find that they generally imagine being heroic and undefeated. They will be a king, queen, or a superhero who finishes a monster. These acts of bravery make them feel self-assured and capable of doing things that look hard. This self-confidence will go a long way in their life and will make them successful.
It’s important to encourage children’s imagination. It helps in their overall brain development. Kids love to create new things. You can see the twinkle in their eyes when they are successful in their little endeavours like painting, telling a story, or craftwork. These activities boosts their imagination and creativity in the right direction.
6 activities that will help you to improve your child’s imagination
- Role-Playing & Drama
The best way to boost imagination in kids is to engage them in role plays. Let them play with their dolls, toy cars, and Legos. You can also encourage them to mimic their parents, relatives, and teachers. Ask them to imagine themselves as legendry characters like a princess, knight, or mythical animal. They can participate in school stage dramas or get enrolled in a drama class. Being in someone else’s shoes will give wings to their imagination.
- Create Scenarios
Give them hypothetical situations and ask them what they would do if it happens. You can discuss their response with them and the reason for them to choose a particular option. You can give them some professions like doctor, teacher, and astronaut. Discuss what kind of situations these people face at work and ask questions. These “what if” questions will stimulate their decision-making ability. And they will also start to empathise with others.
- Play Outside
Nature is a beautiful gift to us. It can play a vital role in child imagination psychology. Let the hands of your kids get dirty while playing in sand, mud, and water. Ask them to make different shapes and forms. Lie down with them on a beach or terrace and discuss the exciting formations of clouds. Ask them to build a beautiful castle with flowers, rocks, and leaves. All these activities will make your child happy, confident, and creative.
- Develop Reading Habit
Apart from imparting knowledge and wisdom, books also play a vital role in enhancing imagination in kids. Reading is just like dreaming. A good book can welcome your kid into the world of fantasy. Reading makes a bridge between the author and reader. While reading, kids go underneath the meaning of the story and sentences. In the beginning, give them fairy tales and storybooks to read. And see them immerse themselves in the characters and situations. Here is a list of stories for kids to get them started.
- Craft Subjects
Craft allows kids to create something with their hands passionately. Encourage them for classes like origami, clay modelling, and paper cutting. Let them witness a piece of cardboard turning into a beautiful form and shape. Crafting helps in improving motor skills and maintaining mental sanity. While doing crafts, school-going kids can forget the pressure of their homework, tests, and exams for some time.
READ: 11 Awesome Family-themed Free printable colouring pages for kids
- Drawing & Painting
Drawing and painting is the easiest way to educate kids about shape, size, and colours. Let them make random drawings at first to express themselves freely. Gradually you can start teaching them formally about the techniques of drawing. You can also create a wall of fame for your children of their best artworks.
Wrapping up
When your children see their creation made with hard work and passion, they will realise why imagination is essential in life.
Author Bio
Samidha Raj works as part of the content marketing team at Planet Spark, a platform that provides online classes to K8 learners on “New Age Skills” like, English Communication, Public Speaking, Grammar, Creative Writing, Debating, etc. She is passionate about empowering the youth by educating parents about the importance of 21st-century skills. In her free time, you can find her watching documentaries or animated movies and organizing game nights (board games are her thing)!
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