Just Imagine
by Maryann Whitfield
Our imagination and sense of wonder provide unexpected opportunities. This episode explores what can happen when we just imagine…
Just Imagine
Your imagination
and sense of wonder
carry you away
to new lands
to unusual places
to times
your creative mind
envisions.
And in
your imagination
a story emerges
that perhaps satisfies
a longing for
adventure
and brings
the opportunity
to dream
of possibilities.
And through
your imagination
this view
of life
and the world
you experience
the joy and freedom
of a child.
Tapping Into Your Child's Imagination
One of the consequences of living our lives as adults is that our imaginations and sense of wonder can recede. You may notice at some point, as I did, that both are slipping away into oblivion. But, an imagination and sense of wonder flourish in children giving them incredible power to create and learn.
If we join our child. Join them right where they are. If we stop, look, and listen. We have a unique opportunity to tap into the power given by wonder and imagination. When we talk with our child, read and write with them, play with them, sing and dance with them, and explore nature with them, we are right where we need to be. Seeing the world through a child’s perspective. We are able to experience the world with curiosity, excitement and sometimes even humor given by the present moment. Alongside our child we lose ourselves to our own imagination and wonder. Here we are able to share in a child’s world of imagination, and we learn from our child.
Nurturing a child’s imagination and sense of wonder by. . .
• going for walks in nature and talking about discoveries and observations made (birds, flowers, sounds heard, trees, small creatures, etc.).
• telling real and imaginative stories.
• reading books and talking about what we see in our minds.
• drawing pictures, having conversations, and writing about the ideas held in the drawing.
