Daydreamers

One of the few things I remember about my Uncle Charlie is that he didn't like to see kids just sit around. Family trips to visit him were boring. To escape, my brother and I read our favorite adventure stories while the elders visited.

One time we sat quietly reading, when Uncle Charlie said to my dad, "Tell those boys to stop reading, and do something worthwhile."

That may be how some grandparents feel when they catch their grandchildren daydreaming, staring at distant clouds, or making up stories rather than doing their homework? On-the-other-hand, experts say that daydreaming is a time when creative, inventive ideas are flowing though a child's mind.

Perhaps, like one 3rd-grader in Moraga, California, your daydreaming grandchild's imagination is running free. This child invented an elaborate security system to keep roaming dogs and cats off his front lawn. It used motion sensors and automatic timers to set off sprinklers and a taped recording of a roaring lion. The only problem was his system couldn't tell the difference between a wandering dog and the church's pastor.

How to Invent Ideas

Kids are full of inventive ideas waiting to be released. To improve your grandchild's imaginative thinking, try these pointers:

· Keep watercolor paints, colored marking pens, plain and colored paper and other art materials on hand. Allow time to experiment with design and colors. Don't insist that your child draw a specific item.

· Invent stories about imaginary playmates. Use cars, trucks, dolls, and other playthings to stimulate ideas. Make a booklet of stories your child has dictated to you or written himself.

· Read stories to our child that stretch his imagination. Make up plays together and act them out with other family members.

. Using pictures and letters, help your child design a secret code. Check with your librarian for a book of codes. Clip secret messages to the fridge or family bulletin board.

· Try some flip-flops. Ask your child to imagine what would happen if . . . fish flew and bids swam? Cats sang and birds meowed? Dogs hopped and rabbits barked? Elephants played like kittens? Make up several of your own; flip-flops.

Imagineering

Go imagineering. Look through newspapers and magazines for pictures of different kinds of balloons. Cut them out and glue them to a piece of paper. Stretch out on the floor with your child, get comfortable, and imagine you are balloons: Slowly fill with air. How does it feel to puff up and sail away? Go up and bump the ceiling . . . slowly float down . . . watch out for the nail on the wall . . . ouch! Did it hurt when the nail stuck you? I'm leaking air. Are you? Lets float gently to the floor. Let all your air out and relax. Would you like to be a balloon again?

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic