February 11, 2020
How to Encourage Your Kid's Imaginations
Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PlaymobilxScoobyDoo #PLAYMOBIL #CollectiveBias
Imaginative play is such an important part of childhood. My kids, like any others, can fall into the trap of "mom, I don't know what to do" or "I want to watch a show". I know that they love to play though, so I make sure to encourage their imaginations with play. From a young age on, I have encouraged my kids to play independently where they aren't just relying on mom and dad to entertain them. Today, I want to share my tips for encouraging your kids’ imaginations.
During Halloween time, Troy introduced the kids to Scooby-Doo episodes and they became obsessed. A few nights around that time, they watched Scooby-Doo shows and movies together. When I saw that PLAYMOBIL came out with some new fun SCOOBY-DOO! toys, I knew that they would be perfect for Adalyn to play with. They are brand new and are available first at Walmart in the toy aisle. We got the PLAYMOBIL SCOOBY-DOO! Mystery Machine and the SCOOBY-DOO! Scooby & Shaggy with Ghost sets.
Imaginative play is such an important part of childhood. My kids, like any others, can fall into the trap of "mom, I don't know what to do" or "I want to watch a show". I know that they love to play though, so I make sure to encourage their imaginations with play. From a young age on, I have encouraged my kids to play independently where they aren't just relying on mom and dad to entertain them. Today, I want to share my tips for encouraging your kids’ imaginations.How to Encourage Your Kid's Imaginations
1. Teach them to play independently
The number one step in encouraging imagination is to teach kids from young on to play independently. The best way to do this in my experience is simple, just let them play. Give them some quality toys and just let them do whatever they want with them. Don't tell them exactly what to do. Just let them play. A good time to start this is when you're doing something like cooking dinner or folding laundry. Then, kids will have something to do when mom is busy and will be using their own imaginations.
I let my kids go crazy in their playroom and they come up with some fun things to do without mom and dad giving them ideas. I would recommend starting this as young as possible like when the baby is 6 months old so that they do not get completely used to you doing everything to entertain them. From what I read, it is super important to let kids do things on their own to encourage imagination and to teach them to problem-solve on their own - very important life skills.
Hover over the image above to start shopping for PLAYMOBIL® toys at Walmart!
2. Have toys that kids can use their imaginations with
It is helpful to have a variety of toys on hand that kids can do whatever they want with. My daughter's favorite independent toys are plain pieces of paper and crayons or markers. She will draw all different things and it is amazing to me to see what her little mind comes up with. |
| The kids were very surprised with their new SCOOBY-DOO! toys! |
During Halloween time, Troy introduced the kids to Scooby-Doo episodes and they became obsessed. A few nights around that time, they watched Scooby-Doo shows and movies together. When I saw that PLAYMOBIL came out with some new fun SCOOBY-DOO! toys, I knew that they would be perfect for Adalyn to play with. They are brand new and are available first at Walmart in the toy aisle. We got the PLAYMOBIL SCOOBY-DOO! Mystery Machine and the SCOOBY-DOO! Scooby & Shaggy with Ghost sets.
By using toys like this where kids can use their imaginations, they can help develop their cognitive and social/emotional skills. So important! Each set has a ghost card that can be read using the ghost card reader in the PLAYMOBIL® SCOOBY-DOO! Mystery Machine, which my daughter loves. The PLAYMOBIL® SCOOBY-DOO! Mystery Figures (Series 1) has 12 collectible SCOOBY-DOO! Ghosts, each from the episodes of the original cartoon series. I look forward to finding these in store and collecting them all. I like PLAYMOBIL because they help to encourage imaginative play, creativity and role play.
The kids have been having a blast creating SCOOBY-DOO! scenes. They often play with it on their own or sometimes, Troy will play with them since he is the one that introduced them to the show. They are perfect for people who have loved Scooby-Doo for a long time like parents and fun for new fans as well.
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| Setup takes a little bit with the toys but kids love to help with this step too! |
3. Let them play with friends and siblings
I find that my kids are more creative when they are together. Oliver loves spending time with his big sister and they can come up with some fun things together. Somehow, it almost always seems to be doing crazy things with our furniture like taking off all of the cushions and jumping on them or wrestling each other. When there are two or more minds working together, they may be more likely to come up with some fun ideas. I know that at school, Adalyn plays "doctor" with her friends a lot which is a great way to use their imaginations.4. Get some dress up clothes
Simple dress-up clothes are so fun for kids to use their imaginations. Adalyn used to dress like a princess every day and still enjoys dressing up in fancy dresses sometimes that belonged to me or my sister. They love being different people and it really helps encourage their imaginations.5. Set out art supplies
My kids love drawing all the time. Adalyn has the true passion for it and Oliver does anything his sister does so I find my kids drawing almost daily. When they need something to do, I just tell them to make me some art and they love doing it. Other great options include play dough, markers or paint (when you're closely supervising them).6. Let them get messy
Almost every time that my kids play together, the house gets messy. I love to keep things tidy so it is hard for me to let it go but when I let them make a mess, they have so much fun together and use their imaginations more.
We are always thinking of new ways to help encourage our kids to use their imaginations. Feel free to drop a tip in the comments!
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