Lilliput Children's Playhouses and Your Child's Imagination
Keys To The Treasure Chest: Unlocking Your Child's Imagination(Or “How to keep from hearing ‘I’m bored!’ this summer”)
As the school year draws to a close and those long hazy days of summer approach, parents everywhere are wondering: What can I do to keep the kids busy?
Here’s the simple, easy answer: Unlock their imagination and you will never hear “I’m bored” again! How? Here are six guaranteed boredom-busters:
- Give them the tools to create.
- Surround them with books.
- Take a walk.
- Stimulate their artistic muscles.
- Invent a hero/heroine.
- Simplicity
Fill a box - or empty laundry basket - with all sorts of non-breakable objects, like dress-up clothes and accessories, blankets, empty containers, old pots and pans, boxes, etc.
Children can’t dream about what they haven’t heard about! Consider borrowing a variety of books from the library. You don’t have to read them all – even letting them browse on their own can be fun and educational!
Besides getting fresh air and exercising their muscles, a walk outside can stimulate their young and growing minds. Point out different flowers, noting shapes and colors. Fantasize about the shapes and designs of passing clouds. Skip or walk zigzag; having fun makes learning easy. Collect some of nature’s beauty (pinecones, leaves, acorns, seashells, rocks, etc. See Point #4).
Supply colored paper, pencils, glue sticks, string, and your “treasures” collected from your neighborhood walks, and see what develops. You may have a Picasso-in-training!
The most magical words in the English language are “Once upon a time…” Don’t worry about the plot, just make it fun: add sounds, crazy adventures, silly words. And don’t forget to end your story with the second most magical words in the English language, “And they all lived happily ever after.”
It’s reassuring for adults to know it’s not about purchasing the most elaborate, expensive toy in the store. Joan Almon, coordinator of the Alliance for Childhood in College Park, Maryland, says, “A good toy is 90% child, 10% toy. The more explicit and elaborate it is, the less room there is for a kid’s mind to take over.”
A playhouse, while a larger initial investment, can provide children countless hours to explore and experiment in their own safe environment. Developing their social, intellectual, and emotional muscles while under the watchful eyes of parents is a win-win proposition. Whether the structure is a market, a castle, or a firehouse, the rich environment will stimulate young growing minds to develop to their fullest.
What The Experts Say:
- Do Your Children Know How to Play?
- Keys To The Treasure Chest.
- Make Believe
- Creativity
- Independent Thinker
- Opening The Door
