Oct 23, 20212 min read

INTO THE FOREST: Using our imagination

Updated: Oct 30, 2021

Imagination is critical in child development. It is where creativity and thinking outside the box begin. It's how children learn about the world around them. During imaginative play children manipulate materials, express themselves verbally and non-verbally, plan (intentionally or unintentionally), act, interact, react, and try different roles. Great opportunities for learning are possible when children participate in creative play with dolls, vehicles, blocks, rocks, boxes and more. Using creative thinking while manipulating play dough, creating recipes with dirt and water, working with art materials, splashing in puddles, or pretending to fly can further a child's development. It's the key component to teaching a child. For young children it helps develop strong social skills, leadership and inner strength, self-esteem, and problem solving skills.

This week at Woodland Forest we had a lot of preschoolers exploring their imagination. One of our little friends mom sold her house and moved across our lake. She didn't actually move but he had a whole story why she did. We had weapons that caught bad guys and sent them to jail. There were birthday cakes and castles being made and even a birthday party for Mater the truck. All of the cars were invited to the party and it had everything from balloons to cake.

This two spent their time at the writing table using their imaginations to create stories with their drawings.

This guy here is a very detailed artist. If you look close you will find little hidden treasures like this little ladybug.

Here is some more creative ways we created art! Letter Monsters are always fun. Along with our imaginations we used small motor skills, letter recognition and letter development lines.