Imagination at Play

Cowboy Carter made another appearance at the Simonini ranch, he rode into town on his horse Snowflake and chased that dog Willy right out of town!

Did you know . . . ?

• There is a panda bear living in a hole in our basement floor, he loves to eat bamboo and requires a lot of cool water to drink. Oh ya and he can talk too

• The bag of pretzels at snack time is actually a rocket ship, the pretzels are little people who blast off to the moon to swim in the water (aka hummus). The pretzels use parachutes to get down from the sky. Interesting.

• There is a candy machine attached to the wall, you can fill up your pockets and the candy is, "really yummy".

• Carter built the "Indians" a new house because theirs fell down. (Pretty sad when a 3 year old even knows the sad state of affairs on Canadian reserves).

• I just got hit by a big rock and have to go to the principal's office. But I'm okay because I got a new toy to make me feel better.

All of this happened within a mere 30 minute play time. Exhausting really for me, difficult to keep up with at times but, really entertaining and makes my mamma heart melt. 

Imagination is defined as, "the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses . . . It helps provide meaning to experience and understanding to knowledge; it is a fundamental facility through which people make sense of the world".

One of the things I am most proud of as a mother (as mothers we all need to give our selves some credit sometimes) is my children's ability to use their imaginations. I have worked hard to provide the opportunity and environment for their imaginative play to flourish. I try to do this by providing a nurturing and open environment with toys and tools to allow their imagination and natural curiosity to lead the way. I try to allow opportunities for free play and unrestricted access to their toys, books, art supplies and whatever else is required. One of the most important ingredients for this is restricted access to television, this is one thing that I am very strict about. I have to turn off my adult mind,  put away my concerns about them making a mess and jump right in and play along. 

I gotta go its Mozart's Birthday (Carter's stuffed monkey) and they are just about to cut the pretend cake!