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OPINION: Let Your Child's Imagination Soar

How you do encourage your kids to use their imaginations?

“Imagination is more important than knowledge” — Albert Einstein

Dramatic play unlocks a child’s imagination, allowing it to soar.

As a teacher reading a story to her students, a fireman putting out a raging fire or a tightrope walker balancing gingerly on a high wire,  children embrace the opportunity to visit other worlds and create new ones of their own. In the wonderful world of pretend, our children can be anyone and do anything. And, while the joy of dramatic play is palpable, the benefits are far reaching and long lasting.

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To observe a child immersed in dramatic play is to see thinking in action. Dressed as a construction worker on a job site or a nurse tending to an ailing patient, children develop social skills as they explore relationships and the ways that people interact. Through these interactions, as children experiment with “walking in someone else’s shoes,” they begin to learn about and develop empathy for others. And, while children learn more about how people interact, they step outside their egocentric perspective of life and see the world from different points of view.

 When a child knows that he can be anything by pretending - a mighty superhero saving the world, an astronaut walking on the moon or a beautiful princess in an enchanted land - he is empowered. In a world where he has little control, the ability to get lost in his imagination builds a child’s self-esteem and gives him confidence in his abilities and potential. In this world of make believe, there are no boundaries and imaginations are free to soar.

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 The ability to see a deliciously dripping scoop of ice cream cone in a mound of beach sand or a fanciful magic wand in a cardboard paper towel roll shows the beginning of abstract thought. This ability to think symbolically helps children in school as they learn that letters symbolize sounds and numbers symbolize groups of objects. In addition, dramatic play encourages the  development of vocabulary as children learn the words for props and professions that would otherwise not be integrated into their lives. Words give children the ability to reenact or create a story. Through pretend play children begin to understand the power of language. 

 Not only does dramatic play allow children the opportunity to “be” the famed rock star performing in front of thousands of screaming and adoring fans or the sky diver effortlessly soaring through the sky, but it allows them to face and work out their fears and worries. The big, bad monster hiding in the closet doesn’t seem so scary when children have control over him in their play. Fears and apprehensions about school or rivalry with a sibling can be played out during dramatic play, allowing the child to explore and vent their feelings.

 To see a child immersed in dramatic play is one of the great joys of parenthood. If that ability to lose oneself in fantasy could be bottled, it would be priceless. As parents, one of the best ways to encourage and foster dramatic play is to read to our children every day. By taking a trip to the Children’s Room at the Marlborough Public Library parents will help their children’s imagination soar!

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