The Importance of Imagination

I’m lousy at pretending.  Sad, but true.

My husband loves to crawl around on the floor pretending to be “mousey” with the kids, and my oldest has a passion for storytelling that causes her to fall asleep and wake again with characters and events of her own imagining.

Me, not so much.  I am creative, but not necessarily great at pretend.

Despite my lack of pretending skills, I firmly believe that being able to think creatively is not just child’s play, but an important skill.  It is a lesson that  that I am working to foster for both for myself, and for my kids.

As parents, we place a lot of emphasis on obedience.  We tell our kids to “Do what you are told, when you are told to do it.” Right?  But do we leave enough room for imagination?

Be honest, Do we give our kids the opportunity to say “hey, stop, wait, I have a better idea!”  or even, “hmm… I’m fascinated with this, I need to think about it for a while.”

I received a humbling lesson in this last week.  My daughter was supposed to be circling adjectives on a worksheet for school.  That was her only task.  Just circle.  That’s it.  But she saw problems that needed to be considered.  For each sentence she decided that she wanted to stop and slowly think through a better way to describe the noun in question.  Sure, she circled the adjectives, but it took her FOR.EV.ER.  There was a loud impatient part of me that wanted to tell her to cut it out, but she was actually doing a harder task than assigned, and it was worthy of her time (whereas the worksheet’s assignment was less that stellar).

It is hard to be patient.  It can be extraordinarily difficult to wait while your child learns to think for themself, rather than just doing what they are told.  But learning to think, learning to put that childhood skill of imagination to work in real ways, is important.

Employers today are looking for people who (bleh, I hate this phrase) “think outside the box” yet we spend much of our time training our children to stop, focus on only one thing, and do it exactly as they are told.  Obviously, this results in students who are well trained to turn in work which all comes to the same conclusion in the same way.  Not exactly a playground for innovation, and certainly not what businesses are looking for in their employees.  Our world is rarely organized into tidy compartments, and I dare you to find a real life problem with the solution pre-prescribed.

Being blessed with the ability to see the big picture is the true goal of imagination.  Putting the pieces together, thinking of what might happen next, and figuring out possible outcomes is truly valuable work.  Imagination isn’t a game, it is the process through which we learn problem solving skills.  But how do we foster this while still training children in obedience and making it through our list of tasks for the day?

First, check yourself.    If imagination and creativity are important skills, then we need to be willing to allow time for flexibility.  Be willing to see your child’s wanderings as valuable.  This requires being very honest with yourself, because letting go means that you will have less control, but it is worth the effort.

Second, check your child.  Is the focus of your child’s imagination a passion that you can funnel into a productive outlet?  A fascination with something as simple as mud could lead to a career in the arts, geology, or architecture.  Be willing to see their play as valuable, and create opportunities for them to allow their imagination to rule.

Third, check your time.  Is this a good time to learn creativity or is it important for the child to do the project as they were directed?  Choose your answer, state it clearly, and expect that request to be honored. Not every trail is worth following, and kids do sometimes have to simply get a task done, without dawdling.  Be aware of whether you are going to have time to follow their creativity, and let them know if there is a timeline.

Fourth, check your response.  Are you respectful in the way that you view your child’s creativity? The fastest way to stop imagination is to call attention to it in the wrong way.  Laughing at a little girl whispering to her dolls or telling an exuberant boy that his carefully drawn rocket would never fly will stop them cold.  Be encouraging, but more importantly, be willing to back away and give them space to get things wrong at times. Who knows, maybe that rocket design will be what makes your son famous.

Allowing space for imagination will give  your kids the freedom to try new things, build confidence, and learn how to solve problems.  We all need a willingness to think differently… and pretending to be a “mousey” may just be where I need to start.

Imagine.