Imagination Walk

One of my favorite activities is going on an imagination walk.  You and your kids can go where ever you want although I try to go places where I can really get them moving.  Some examples of imagination walk activities are flying through the clouds, big jumps over a stream, swimming in the ocean, climbing a mountain, or quickly ducking when a dragon flies over head.  We’ve pretended to go for a ride in a magic bubble and had a magician turn us into frogs and we had to hop from lily pad to lily pad until we reached the other side of the pond then were turned back into humans.  We take turns deciding where to go and what we see on our walks.  The best thing about it is you can do it for as little or as long as you want, there’s no set up or clean up, and it’s always different and always new.

Although you are having fun with your child you are also teaching important skills.  Make sure you challenge both their imaginations and their bodies.  This article decscribes how imagination plays an important role in a child’s cognitive growth.  One great quote was "fantasy play is correlated with other positive attributes. In preschool children, for example, those who have imaginary friends are more creative, have greater social understanding and are better at taking the perspective of others."  They are also developing gross motor skills through all the physical activity in your adventures.  This is just one example of the importance of play in a child’s education.

Where  will your imagination take you and your child?