Do you remember your own childhood days where you used to pretend and live in a world like Peter Pan or Alice in Wonderland? Well, if yes, the same holds true for your child too. You should never stop your kid from pretending to be in a different world or role-play as someone else. Imagination Development is as important as learning a language and will help your child throughout his life. Show keen interest and encourage your kid to share his/her imagination skills with you as it actually helps them develop into confident and fearless adults- now the obvious question is how?
The power of imagination and its valuable benefits
Children love to live in their own fairy-tale world of make-believe, experience, and role-playing. They have outstanding imagination skills and enjoy things like transforming a bedsheet into a superhero cape or using a box as their own army forts to protect against the attacks of a dangerous fire-blowing dragon. These little acts of innocent fantasy and play develop their little brains and social skills. They see the world through their own eyes and start controlling their own environment in a simple playful manner.
Benefits of a child’s imagination
Imagination skills help in building the cognitive skills in every child and experts state they have the following advantages-
1. Develops their social skills
Children love to pretend and they imagine relationships with their family, friends, and all the people they meet. For instance, when they play doctor, they imagine the communication between the doctor and patient. Likewise, when they play house, they imagine the perfect parent-child relationship. This innocent play of imagination helps them to build compassion and empathy for others.
2. Establishes confidence
Little kids have no control over their lives so when they imagine, they empower themselves as defenders of a fort or a superhero saving lives. Imagination development helps them build their self-confidence and discover their hidden potential over time.
3. Boosts intellectual development–
When kids use their imagination to build a grand castle in the sand or see a delicious meal in a mud pie, they develop their intellectual skills. They start to think and this skill helps them to do well in school as well. Symbolic thinking helps them with numbers, letters, and sounds they will later learn at school.
4. Hone their language skills
Kids who imagine a lot love to talk, and this improves their language skills. They learn new vocabulary and are able to construct complete sentences better to express themselves.
5. Ease fears
Role play and imagination helps kids to ease out their fears. For instance, imaging there is a monster under the bed or in a dark room whom they can fight and win gives them confidence. They become fearless and develop courage to tackle uncomfortable situations that cause worry or fear.
Parents should read to their child to encourage imagination skills
Yes, daily reading to your child will help him/her develop imagination skills. Books and story-telling is an effective way for you to develop these valuable skills in your kid. Stories and tales for children give your kid the exposure of make-believe worlds that they can create and visit daily.
Moreover, reading stories to your child, and encouraging them to read as they grow older helps them to become confident, social and well-balanced adults in the future. Last but not the least, imagination development help in solid relationship building that help your kid become successful with developing social bonding with their peers and family successfully as they grow up!
