EVERYTHING
FOR YOUR FAMILY
Feature Story
|
||||
|
As I walked into my 5-year-old son's bedroom to put some clean clothes away, I found him lying on his bed doing absolutely nothing. Ankles crossed and hands clasped behind his head, he was staring blankly at the ceiling. A little put off by what, at first glance, appeared to be a waste of time, I asked with a slight note of disapproval, "What are you doing?" He matter-of-factly replied, "I'm just looking around in my mind." It was a perfect description of what most of us would call daydreaming. In fact, his imagination was at work or, better yet, at play. I decided that after a busy day full of stimulating activities and experiences, it was OK that he was just...well...doing nothing. In fact, after learning more about daydreaming and imagination, I now have a fresh perspective about down time. I'm pleased that my son has the opportunity to periodically bask in his own thoughts. A conscious effort not to over-schedule has left both my boys with occasional vacant time slots in their day, a luxury that many of today's children no longer enjoy. I admit I have to fight off the urge to fill that unplanned time with an activity, but I've discovered that not allowing children the time to relax and let their minds wander inhibits the powerful process of imagination. When imagination cannot take root, it leaves children bereft of an ability that, when nurtured, can have a profound effect upon their lives. Imagination's virtue Imagination, which begins as simple daydreaming, is the partner of knowledge and intellect, according to Jacob Bronowski, author of "The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination." It is the force from which creativity erupts. It also can heal, actually physically heal those who can harness its power. In "Healing with the Mind's Eye," Dr. Michael Samuels writes, "Images and vision have enormous power...and cause a transformation that heals our body." Pretty heavy stuff. Fact is, the ability to visualize is at the core of many skills and abilities that kids develop as they grow older. Those who are free to develop their creative thinking skills also are more apt to explore and communicate freely without being intimidated. Imaginative children engage more often in divergent thinking rather than memorizing information and facts. Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge," pointing out that some of the most innovative concepts are developed by polishing a rough, sometimes implausible idea. He noted, "If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." Recall hand-held computers and cell phones? Perhaps a spin-off on his philosophy, General Electric's ad slogan, intended to convey an image that the company is at the forefront, reads, "Imagination at work." No wasted time If Einstein was right (and my money is on him), clearly my son was not wasting time as he daydreamed that day. Unfortunately, perhaps I was the one who had wasted precious time by not recognizing early on the value of this benign activity. As important as it is to help your children develop creative thinking skills, it's critical to do so when they are young. At no time is the imagination more fertile than during childhood where it thrives in a richer, more resplendent form than what is found in adults. Eva Brann, author of "World of the Imagination," writes that the quality of a child's imagination exceeds that of adults. "It holds the soul together within and connects it to objects without." She refers to this uniquely human ability as a mysterious power that allows us to see absent objects as being present. Others have described it as a melting together of our senses and our thoughts. Regardless of how it is defined, it is a gift that fades over time as more specific expectations are imposed on children. Brann says imaginative thinking often peaks at age 5 because at that age children begin to play together more often. It becomes difficult to merge one's fantasies with those of another 5-year-old. Despite evidence of the importance of imagination, we've somehow relegated this abstract process to a lesser place - a waste of time, as this mom thought. A whimsical passing of time steeped in a fantasy world, some believe. Learning letters and numbers has become paramount even in preschool, leaving less time for imaginative play. According to the Sacramento Bee, California's academic standards for kindergartners include recognizing when an estimate is reasonable, proper form and spacing between letters, and reading one-syllable and high-frequency words - all in preparation for the upcoming standardized tests. With such a full academic schedule, there isn't much time left for doing "nothing." The stress factor Sandes Nichols, a kindergarten teacher at Butterfield Elementary School in Lake Elsinore, believes children are robbed of some important developmental years because of performance pressures. "We don't test in kindergarten but the standards in California have been raised to such an extent that they're pressuring us to do first-grade work." Nichols says that pretending, playing and socializing are taking a back seat to academics at the earliest levels. She adds that creativity and imagination play a big role in a student's success. "They do better in school. They use creative sentences and they have a creative thought process. Just those two factors have an immense impact on children later on. They're the ones doing better in college." Brann claims that "all great works on education recognize imagination as central to learning." That thought is further supported by Professor Sandra Russ of Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University. Results of her study on first- and second-graders showed that those with a high level of quality imaginative skills scored higher on tests of divergent thinking. In addition, they were better at managing stress. They also were better problem-solvers both in the short term (dealing with playground conflicts) and also later in life. How imagination works The root word of imagination is image. While we "see" things that aren't really there, our "mind's eye" is posting a visual for us to ponder. We develop an internal picture of a real object even in the absence of the existence of that object. Sometimes called "the inward eye," imagination also allows us to view how things are connected, linking our perception of one object or idea to another. Bronowski notes: "The intellectual activities of man are eye-conditioned." Brann explains the theory by posing the question, "How is the read word actually imagined or transferred into visual images?" Think about it as you read the following: The wind blew the leaves across the front lawn. You just visualized a scene that doesn't exist based on the words you read. That's imagination! Brann says that in some children, the ability to imagine is so strong, "...they can project what they see in their mind's eye onto real surfaces to really see them." Another example of the powerful results of imagery is evident in our memory recall. When you recall a favorite meal, your senses take over. You can smell the aroma, taste the flavorful food and imagine yourself enjoying the experience so much so that your mouth actually begins to water. Memory, according to J.T. Bentham in an essay on the subject, is the "Mother of muses." The more sensory experiences a child enjoys, the more visual images they are exposed to and the more time they are given to explore what's inside their own heads, the greater the odds of becoming a thoughtful, innovative, and expressive adult. Tips to nurture your child's imagination • Place a value on developing imaginative skills. Consider it essential to your child's overall development. • Don't let "proper technique" supercede a creative alternative your child has to a particular process. • Build on the experience we all have watching our kid's fascination with the box that the expensive toy came in, rather than the toy. • Expose your child to music. • Exhibit and praise any creative work they share with you. • Have a "creative corner" in your home where they can go to find glue, crayons, scissors and paper. Ask them to make birthday cards for relatives using these tools. • Encourage reading aloud and "acting" out the parts of the story. Ask them to imagine how the story will end. • Use items to depict other items. For example, playfully hold a banana up to your ear and pretend it's a telephone. This encourages them to engage in the same creative play. • Have plenty of constructive toys around like Legos, blocks and anything they can build with. • Don't buy elaborate costumes for plays or parties. Help the children to create their own. • Turn off the TV. - Compiled by Kimberly A. Porrazzo |
||||
RSS Subscribe
Digg This ArticleSEARCH THE SITE
