Boost Your Imagination!

Posted by Jul 31, 2017 Book Based Activities, Books, Family Fun

 

Imagination is such an important part of childhood. Do you remember the games you used to play when you were younger? We hear a lot of parents lamenting about how they didn’t have electronics and devices to entertain them when they were younger, and they had to create their own fun. The scary truth behind that is that imaginative play is sometimes taking a backseat in today’s world. Why would kids need to imagine they are in another world when they can enter one in a video game? I am not one to ban all electronics and devices. I think there is definitely an advantage to kids learning some technology. However, I do think it is even more important for parents to encourage kids to use their imaginations whenever possible. Today’s book is a great jumping off point for imaginative play!

Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Imagine That! was written and illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail. This fun story follows a little girl named Lila as she and her mother go to visit her grandfather. As Lila gets ready to go and travels to see him, she imagines herself on grand adventures. Her game of make-believe becomes even more exciting when her grandfather plays along. This sweet story celebrates the joy of using  your imagination, especially when you are sharing the adventure with a friend. The text alternates between non-rhyming text when her mother is speaking to her in the real world, and rhyming text when she is imagining. The brightly colored illustrations help the reader to see how Lila turns everyday objects and activities into grand adventures.

 

This book is a great way to get kids using their imagination. Make your creative play even more fun by creating some art together or inventing your own games and make-believe adventures!

Creative Art

Parent & Child Painting – This project uses the talents and imaginations of both the kids and the adults to create a joint masterpiece. Have kids use watercolors to create an abstract piece of art. (Since my daughter is only 2, her painting is all abstract right now). Use your imagination to turn their painting into artwork. My daughter love unicorns right now (The Unicorn Song by the Irish Rovers has been one of her favorite songs practically since birth), so I used her painting to create a unicorn. This project allows parents and kids to use their imaginations to create something new.

Open Ended Art – Encourage kids to use their imaginations to turn a simple shape or design into their own piece of art. I created a printable with some drawings to start with, which you can get here. You can also create your own with any shapes. Since you only need a paper and pen, this would be an easy activity for a rainy day or while waiting at a restaurant! This is a great activity for showing kids that we may all see things differently, but our different views can be beautiful in their own way.

Create Your Own Adventures

Open Ended Play – In the story, Lila finds a way to turn every day activities and situations into elaborate adventures. Give kids the opportunity to do the same by providing them with a pile of props. Use a variety of toys or objects to create different role playing opportunities or have them create a game with the toys provided. I gave my daughter a pile of toys to sort through and we had fun using them in unexpected ways. She used the hoops from an old lawn darts game to pretend she was a frog hopping on lily pads. We also used pool noodles and a beach ball to create our own game. I enjoyed watching her use her imagination to play something new!

 

Story Starters – Give kids the opportunity to create their own adventure by giving them a story starter. Give them an interesting setting and problem and let their imaginations run free.

  • On a sunny Tuesday morning, Sarah noticed all of the animals had gathered in the barn. When she opened the door to see what was going on, she was surprised to see…
  • As the thunderstorm rolled in, Tommy raced outside to…
  • Karen and Mark were digging on the beach one day, when they discovered…

There are lots of fun ways to encourage kids to use their imaginations. From artwork to creative play, you can let their minds wander and join them on a new adventure. Just like Lila and her grandfather in the book, you can make memories imagining things together!

70 comments on “Boost Your Imagination!”

  6. Such fun! I’ve been wanting to do story starters with my boys, but I haven’t tried it yet. We’ll have to do it this week for real!

    • They can be so much fun! You can try them in the car on long trips too. Have one person start the story and the next person add on to it!

  13. My little artist (also named Lila!) will love these activities. I really love your focus on process-based art, and letting the product happen afterwards. Really great ideas! Pinning now!

    • This would be a fun activity to do out loud as well. That could inspire him to write out his own stories later.

  15. Awesome ideas! Love the watercolor idea and the drawing you made ! We are heading to the library today so I’m going to check out that book! Thanks!

  18. Love these ideas! Thanks for sharing! I especially love the open ended story…I know that my eldest will love that and the open ended play where you give the child random things to create their own game will be something my youngest will love.

  19. I love all of your ideas especially the parent child art ones. Just today when we got home from errands, my son asked to watch tv. When I say no let’s go outside, he reluctantly went. In no time he had found a shovel and started digging and had the best time! 🙂 I need to say no to electronics more often!

    • That’s awesome! I love when you can watch their imagination turn something simple like a shovel into something incredibly fun!

  21. I love these! I definitely am a big believer in imaginative based play. My favorite game growing up was “dress-up.” Even though I have all boys now, I’m very happy to report my oldest is all about imaginative play too. He may be fighting and building, instead of playing house, but that’s OK with me.

    • That is awesome! I loved playing dress up too. We got my daughter some dress up clothes for Christmas last year and she loves playing in them every day!

  25. I love that parent — child painting. It really would force parents to slow down and do something with their child. I know I struggle with this. Thanks for sharing!

    • Thank you! We had a lot of fun with it! I think creating something together makes it a very special project.

  35. Love this post of my goodness it just speaks to my heart. I am rambling. But it does! Love the idea of turning abstract art into something else and the props. Simple stuff is so important.

Comments are closed.