Imagination

So far this morning I have been a passenger on the “Flounder” pirate ship, also known as our couch. I have been a student on the school bus waiting for the next stop…a bus in your living room you say? Yes, a bus that looks an awful lot like my floor. Everyone sitting in a line in front of the fireplace. Who could be driving? I’m sure that’s what you’re wondering…well, “Brock” the gigantic stuffed dinosaur, of course. It has been quite the morning because after all that excitement I ended up engineering a magnificent magnet tile castle. That’s right, I’m also an architect! Fully enamored by the brave knight, Sir Tucker, protecting the castle from fire breathing dragons, sword at his side (yes, that means the tv remote). Whose castle is the brave knight protecting? Princess Ella, however what no one knows is she isn’t just a princess, but a superhero because now she has rid herself of her crown and is sporting a Spider Man cape.

If you can’t tell by now, I’m not afraid to play pretend. Show me a toy and I’ll transport you to a distant land with an epic backstory you won’t believe. Maybe it’s because I am 7 years older than my little brother. That meant for quite some time during childhood I was left with books, baby dolls and my own (rather large) imagination! I think sometimes we get so bogged down with the tasks we feel like we must complete, and yet aren’t getting done, that we miss out on quality time. Quality time that could be spent fighting off sharks or hopping from pillow to pillow because, naturally, the floor is lava. Listening to the creative tales my son whips up out of nowhere really inspires me to try to keep that imagination alive. So, what are you waiting for? Enter the world of make believe and decide for yourself whether you can have as much fun as your kids. Either way you are making memories they won’t soon forget!

I know tuning into your pretend side can be difficult sometimes so I have a few ideas listed below that might get you started!

1.       Search YouTube for “floor is lava” and just do what the video says which is usually dance while the music plays and jump up to the couch when it says, the floor is lava. My kids are thrilled when we do this. It really gets me laughing too.

2.       Have a toy train track that your kids play with? Set up a track together and then with a toy set it on the track and come up with a silly and ridiculous story that explains the “track problems”. Our go to is usually a dinosaur. (This can be a good one to include a book about trains before the activity.)

3.       Read a book and act out the sounds and actions. Your kids will get a kick out of it, I promise. Better yet, read T-Rex and Tuck Explore the Zoo, there are some great engaging actions and sounds to be made within that book.

4.       Pretend you are injured, and your kids must play doctor to fix you.

Gold + Gain Photography @goldandgrainphotography

Do you play pretend with your kids, or did you when they were younger? Let’s hear some of the pretending in the comments below!

Have a great weekend, and as always happy reading!