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ENHANCING YOUR CHILD'S IMAGINATION


A profound difference between 3-year-olds and younger kids is the blossoming of their imagination now. Three-year-olds are keen observers of the world around them, and creative play is the way they rehearse and absorb all those new ideas. A 3-year-old's mind becomes capable of seeing an object as more than one thing: A stick can also be transformed into a sword, a magic wand, or a baby. 
What's one of the all-time best gifts you could give your child? A box. Seriously! A large carton can become a spaceship, a grocery store, a car, a house. It can provide more hours of emotional, intellectual, and social stimulation than any fancy electronic toy.
Pretend play becomes more complex and interactive at 3. It's no accident that preschools have plenty of Props — plastic tools, kitchen gear, blocks, dress-up clothes — for kids to Pretend with.
Children learn by doing and imagining. When they pretend they're a police officer or parent, they have the freedom to explore at their own pace a world they're learning to navigate. They hold the power. They can express their emotions, punishing their pretend children as they've been punished. They learn to negotiate and solve problems (how to stop the bad guy or what to cook for dinner). They learn to walk in others' shoes, helping to develop empathy.
Creating stories about pretend characters encourages language development and abstract thinking. And being able to see that a belt could be a lasso or a block could be an iPod is a precursor to realizing that those symbols on the page are actually letters and words.
To encourage imaginary play, have a stash of props handy for your children to explore: boxes, clothes, shoes, household utensils, blocks, stuffed animals, and writing materials. Then step back and have fun watching what the props become.


This post first appeared on Getting The Best From Your Babies, please read the originial post: here

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ENHANCING YOUR CHILD'S IMAGINATION

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