My daughter recently developed an unusual fondness for collapsable laundry baskets. You know, the mesh kind that you can fold flat to store? She loves them.
One morning I was folding laundry when she started running around the family room. “A storm is comin’, a storm is comin’!” she shouted. “Get my boat, my boat!”
She hauled her small, compact body into the laundry basket and demanded an oar. Improvising, I gave her a handled strainer from my utensils crock.
She spent the rest of the morning in her boat, traveling the high seas and singing like Ariel in The Little Mermaid.
It was captivating. She’d entered a land of which I was a native:
As a kid, I spent hours imaging my way into lives far beyond my reach. Rock star, Amish girl, French Resistance fighter … in my head I could be anything. Seeing my daughter take that first step toward a rich life of the mind made my heart swell with pride and happiness.
In the morning before I get her up, I listen to her on the monitor, chattering away about riding airplanes and swimming in rivers. Occasionally she will admonish one of her stuffed animals to “take a nap!” or “chew your food!” I realize she is practicing her verbal skills. But she is also pretending.
I want to keep that spirit alive in her, and it’s been some years since I engaged in the art myself. What tools should I have on hand to help her? How do you spark your child’s imagination?
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*Kudos to anyone who can guess the artist whose song inspired the title of this post!
[tags]imagination, pretending, child, toddler, fun, spirit, verbal skills, parent, son, daughter, parenting, love [/tags]
Photo courtesy of Emmie’s Mommy, used with permission.
6 responses so far ↓
Stu Mark // Jan 16, 2007 at 4:33 pm
First off, how cute is she?!?
Second, bravo on the endorsement of her sea-faring.
Third, I am solidly impressed that, upon becoming aware of the storm, she went for a mode of transportation, rather than shelter. That took courage. It could have been a bad storm.
Fourth, I can’t guess, as I’m the editor, but I know the songwriter, and the song is from one of the artist’s better albums.
Busy Mom // Jan 16, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Cute! Eric Clapton.
Michelle // Jan 16, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Wow, I’m impressed in Busy Mom’s lyric abilities. it’s a good idea to let them use those collapsible laundry baskets, my kids would love that.
Megin Hatch // Jan 16, 2007 at 11:54 pm
It’s inspiring to see such a little kid engage in pretend play, isn’t it?
Here are a few things that provide fuel in our house: After halloween Meme (grandma) goes to town buying clearance costumes for our costume bin. (the funny thing about it is that I have never bought a halloween costume, we make them all! They go in the bin, too.) These cheap costumes are perfect for dress up and make great birthday or holiday gifts.
My kids also got a stage for christmas last year- very simple construction built by an uncle and covered with rug remnants. Together with the costumes and some musical instruments- and presto!
I’ve also always encouraged my kids to “read the pictures” in books long before they were able to read. I think this helps! Books in general really help!
Lastly when we are taking car trips we play games where we imagine we are elsewhere and tell stories about where we are and what we are doing.
Seems like with this play and the Poo’s early love of books, and he fact that Mom’s thinking about this issue all combine to guarantee that her imagination will continue to flourish. Nicely done.
-Megin
Liz // Jan 17, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Eric Clapton?
Look at all that hair all of a sudden!
Pretend play is the *best* ain’t it? Imagination is the “toy” she’ll always have with her. No batteries required
Annie // Jan 17, 2007 at 10:28 pm
That’s so awesome! She looks like a sailor in her little “ship”.
Christina loves to “pretend play” and it’s amazing to see what she comes up with. Her favorite is also the laundry basket (she pretends to be the first baby NASCAR driver!)
Michael has trouble with the concept, but he’s slowly realizing that it’s OK to use things in other ways than it’s intended to.
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