'Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.' ~Albert Einstein
I was informed by my daughter’s fourth grade teacher that it isn’t cool for 9 and 10 year old girls to talk about such things as faeries, being a princess and make believe. It is cool to talk about clothes, crushes, girlfriend stuff and what-not. So far the other kids are not teasing her about her topic’s of conversation choices, but the teacher is afraid it’s only a matter of time.
Me, Myself and I have probably always had a good solid foot in the land of imagination. I love it. I was one of those kids who could go out in the backyard and spend the entire day, by myself with my imaginary friends, and have a great time. I still take a foray into imaginary worlds with my books (vampires in Forks – anyone?) or play pretend with my girls in the park and help them build fairy houses with leaves, nuts and fallen branches. At heart I’m a big kid with a huge imagination. And I love Holidays like Saint Patricks Day, Halloween and Christmas because they feed that imaginative spirit.
This year I’ve think I’ve got to tell my oldest daughter about Santa and it’s killing me. I’ve never lied to her I usually let her come to her own conclusions but she keeps telling me that all her friends at school are telling her that Santa isn’t real. When she asks me I say things like, ‘Well what do you think about that?’ Even in her Christmas Letter to Santa she asked him if he was real. When I found out (at twelve, mind you) I sobbed like you wouldn’t believe. Finding out that certain magical things you believe in aren’t quite real can be a huge downer.
But I’m a bit stimied as to how to encourage a healthy imagination in my children without bringing on the teasing from other less-inspired children.
I will tell her that she definitely is a Princess and always will be because her Heavenly Father is a King! She should never, never think herself not worthy of that title. I will tell her angels are real and miracles do happen . And I will tell her that imagination is a very powerful thing, and unfortunately there are kids out there that have grown up so glued to the television or gaming system that they don’t have an ounce of imaginative spark in them. So she will have to be careful from now on who she shares her thoughts and dreams with. And I will tell her that dreams can come true if you work hard enough.
So as to the give-away. Here’s a little portal to imagination. Keep it up year round or pull it out for special occasions to invite the magic into your home.
I made it with a little fairy dust glitter, love & from the clay that you bake in the oven.
I love crafting these doors and I’ve seen some on Etsy but if I charged what they do on Etsy I’d be paying myself maybe $3 an hour for how long it takes me to make them. I make them because I enjoy crafting them. I realize that I forgot to include instructions in how to make them. I'm working on some PDF patterns that should help the craftily challenged people out there. I'll try and post them soon, but it may be a couple of weeks.
To win it – Leave a comment (That's a tough requirement - isn't it!) Optional is telling me how you feed a child’s imagination while keeping them grounded in reality.
9 comments:
I LOVE make-belive! I think because it reminds me of miracles and that there really is a whole unseen world that is more real than the one we can see with our eyes. Fantasy has always been my favorite genre of anything, but especially books (I love, love, love Twilight by the way:)
My boys know that santa and the tooth fairy are pretend. They know no one has actually seen a unicorn or fairy, that we know of anyway :) But they're imaginations are still wide open. They love to immerse themselves in pretend stories, they enjoy reading fairy tales with me (along with just about every other kind of story).
We talk about angels being all around us, our helpers. And Jesus healing people and other fantastic miracles that seem almost like fantasy themselves, except when you are looking into the shining face of someone who's cancer vanished "mysteriously" it is as real as it gets.
This is the way I grew up and it worked for me. I still find some of my greatest enjoyment in fantasy. Even though my mom doesn't like it much. She'd rather read "real" stories, and just can't get her emotions into something that's not "real". I have the last laugh though after hearing the testimony of a little girl who saw heaven and came back with stories of animals that talk and planets made of crystal...
Anyway my boys love a mixture of fantasy and reality that seems to blend seamlessly into our daily lives. It's just a part of who we are. I think my oldest will become somewhat less interested in fantasy stories as he grows older. He loves science and facts. But he has a fantastic imagination that will serve him wonderfully should he choose to pursue any kind of career in science, after all as the Albert Einstien quote you posted says, imagination is what leads us on.
The 'Santa' thing. The best way (and only way in my mind) that this works is when you 'bring them in' on how it works. Explain the idea of Santa, what he represents and why it is an important tradition. Have them help you prepare for the event (Picking out for the others in the family, etc.) Help them feel some of what it means to be Santa, and make darn sure they are still surprised come the morning of the 25th...
PE
I hope I win.
PE
Awesome imagination door!! With so many boys I would have to say video games...does that make me a bad mom? They love talking about them even when they are not playing and what type of character they can get next....Star Wars Legos and Batman Legos....what type of suit/costume they can get.
No tooth fairy at our house! I told the kids we must live to far out for the tooth fairy to find our house because she has NEVER NOT ONCE showed up to our house on the first night!! And she has had LOTS of chances!! Now I just buy the teeth myself outright and they get instant gratifications so all is good!
I still believe in fairies, when i was a little girl my Mum always talked about fairies at the bottom of our gardren. So i would go out very quite and try to see if i could see them. I just love this little door, as i was looking at you blog Rachel wanted to know if this door was for fairies and she even read the writing. So i want to know where i can get one for her. Hugs Dawn
One of my favorite George Bernard Shaw quotes goes like this: “Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people.”
When we're tiny tykes...we don't know what's "reasonable" and the whole world is a wondrous place. As we mature, we start to realize the difference between "make believe" and "reality". The world gets more manageable, and we're able to take our place in it. We adapt.
Still,I think it's important for all of us to be "unreasonable" sometimes. If society is going to progress, we need to remain open to possibilities that aren't necessarily obvious. Make-believe is good practice, isn't it?
that is a great quote! AND an excellect post. Shame on that teacher!
And your little door is beautiful! absolutely beautiful. I think it's such a great reminder to myself to keep a child's heart (especially when i'm surrounded by them!).
Blessings
I like to do plays with my son. This encourages him to also think outside the box. Imagination helps one self to be motivated to do great and extrodinary things. Love i. I believe God gave us this gift to help us grow into the many great things He has in store for us in our lives.
My daughter's teacher is a dream and I honestly don't think she was telling me it's not cool for a fourth grader to have an imagination she just didn't want Lea getting teased because she is so vocal about hers.
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