Children’s imagination

“In a Wonderland they lie, Dreaming as the days go by, Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream- Lingering in the golden gleam- Life, what is it but a dream?”
— Lewis Carroll (Through The Looking Glass)

 

Have you noticed that children play quite differently when they are on their own compared with sharing games with others?

When they are playing on their own, children live in a different world.  Look at the concentration on a child’s face.  What are their thoughts?  What lovely stories are they making up for themselves?

What wonders is she constructing?

And children playing in the open air.  Yesterday when out walking we saw a child playing happily in a pile of leaves.  Look at this boy’s face as he discovers the sound, feel and joy of fallen leaves.

And then when they discover the joys of books.  What was James thinking at almost three years old when he ‘read’ his book.

And when there are two or more playing the games become more structured.  There isn’t the same scope for the child’s or the children’s imagination to run wild.

I recently came across the photo of James and friends  ‘playing’ the piano.  What wondrous dreams were these children concocting?

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”  — Pablo Picasso

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