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What is key when we are creating a project, doing work or solving problems. Ideas, of course! Good ideas help us create and invent new things, and sometimes even do ordinary things in a creative way.
In order for our brain to easily generate ideas, we need a developed imagination.
What is this?
Imagination is the ability to form a mental image that does not relate to reality, but exists only in the head.
In addition, imagination is at the core of everything that has to do with creativity. A developed imagination can become the basis for creating unprecedented worlds, cool inventions or introducing innovations into existing areas of knowledge. Imagination begins to work when we ask the questions “Why does something work the way it does?” and “How could it be otherwise?”
What Einstein said
Albert Einstein put imagination above knowledge because ready-made knowledge is finite, but imagination, on the contrary, has great potential and helps you think beyond known facts.
“I have enough artistic skills to be able to draw freely in my imagination,” Einstein said. For him, the ability to fantasize and come up with something in his head was like a game where you could experiment, ask questions and creatively rethink reality.
Why is imagination important for a child's development?
A child learns and remembers new information in many ways through imagination.
This works great through the game format. While playing, children mentally recall various situations in life: going to the store, going to the doctor, going to the sea, etc. This helps them analyze their experience and better understand the relationship between different events, the roles that other people play in them, etc.
However, a game in which children fantasize something does not only reinforce the experience they already have. In the process, they can introduce something completely new and unique. For example, if they play “the beach”, children begin to imagine the life of underwater creatures and “build” unprecedented worlds and spaces in their heads.
How to develop your child's imagination at home
Here are some ways to “activate” children's imaginations and help them develop creative thinking.
Encourage your child and praise him when he comes up with something
Show your children that you value their ability to fantasize. Talk about how important it is to be creative in solving any everyday problem. If the child is still young, show your example of how you can give different objects other “roles”: for example, an ordinary box can easily “turn” into a smartphone — hold it to your ear and show the child that you are “talking” on the phone.
“It's interesting...”
Australian educator Sandy Howen suggests asking children “thoughtful” questions, starting with “Interesting”: I wonder what happens if you cross a banana with a kiwi? I wonder what would happen if the panda were a marine animal? I wonder how a turtle would survive without its shell?
Free play
Make sure that your child has time to play independently when he is not learning something new with teachers, but is free to fantasize and “live” situations that are interesting to him. By the way, outdoor games are great for stimulating the imagination and developing the creative capabilities of the brain. If you are playing with your child, don't be too active: let him have the opportunity to come up with the script and the details of the gameplay.
Help your child have a variety of experiences
Read books with your children and write and tell your own stories. Go to museums, art galleries, botanical gardens, etc. Attend workshops and various activities for children. All this will help stimulate and develop the child's imagination, as well as suggest many new topics for games.
If you want your child to become more creative and develop creativity, as well as logical and mathematical thinking, sign up for a free one trial lesson on programming for the Progkids online school. All lessons are held in an individual format, as well as at a time convenient for you and your child, which makes them as comfortable as possible. Experienced teachers take a unique approach to each young talent and encourage students to undertake any creative endeavors. Our school has an internal educational platform where you can learn programming in a game format. Moreover, your child can create art using AI, learn to start their own blog, or create animated music videos. By the way, our school has its own online space where students share news, creative projects and achievements, participate in competitions, and play Minecraft and other games with teachers.
