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Close Your Eyes

© Cathy Malmrose

In last week's article, we talked about the basics of visualization for kids: why it's important, how to do it, the different levels of visualization exercises and the many aspects of life where visualization comes in handy. As a quick recap, visualization is the ability to see something in your mind's eye. When children learn how to control this ability, it helps them academically, socially, emotionally and in many other areas.

Let's start with little kids (ages 2 to 6). A good visualization exercise before bed could be:

Parent: "Close your eyes and try to see your hamster. What color is he? How does his nose wiggle? What is he doing? What would he do if we put another hamster in with him? What would he do if we gave him a whole head of lettuce?"

If you can think of a topic and questions that engage your child, you can have a relaxing conversation before bedtime, either lying down beside your child or sitting in a chair beside his bed. Note that the visualization exercises should be done only under the best circumstances: when your child isn't tired, agitated or angry. The mood has to be quiet and calm, or it won't work well. For children in this age range, the following topics typically work well:

1. Animals, pets, favorite animal types (fuzzy animals, horses, dogs, etc.)

2. Fantastical creatures (dragons, unicorns), fairy tale characters, creatures from books

3. Favorite people (grandma, a friend from school), pretend people

4. Toys (what if your favorite toy ___ came to life? What would he be like?)

For older children (ages 7-12) the visualization exercises can be on the level of problem-solving. Since the exercises are more complicated, I'll give you the most recent example of what we have been doing with our two boys, ages 9 and 10.

When Sept. 11, 2001 hit, our children didn't know what to make of it. Rumors were flying rampant around the playground about how bombs were hidden under the school building and chemical agents were in the air conditioning system. From what I heard from other teachers, most of the playgrounds all over America had at least a few children who enjoyed the shock-factor of telling their friends a fictionalized version of what they had seen on TV. Our boys had several friends from the Middle East and they needed to know what was happening so they could brace themselves for the trauma that was unfolding around them. We gave them the basic facts and talked about it, but the children needed another outlet for their fear.