A child’s imagination is a wondrous thing, isn’t it? The scenarios and situations they create in their minds as they whirl around the lounge room, play in the garden or interact with their friends…..the bath towel becomes the cloak of a king, the stick on the driveway becomes a Jedi’s lightsabre, the empty toilet roll becomes a telescope for astronomers….it’s quite amazing to watch.
SO what is creative play? It’s how a young child sees the world and their place in it. A child intuitively plays a ‘role’ in a scenario which helps them develop emotional, cognitive, social and physical skills as they ‘play their role’ and interact with their friends.
It’s learning by doing.
It’s learning by imagining.
It’s learning by getting messy and figuring things out for themselves.
It is the exact opposite of rote learning and someone telling them what they should and need to know right now.
So in a world of technology, things that beep and screens, how do we harness that imagination for as long as possible? And create opportunities for creative play for our kids at home?
Here are 6 fun ideas to get you started!
Rock on
Make some musical instruments out of items at home and start a rock band. Turn a bucket upside down and grab a wooden spoon for a drum. Half fill a plastic bottle with rice for some percussion and grab a hairspray can for your mic (you know you did that when you were a teenager!). Put on some music and channel your inner Green Day.
Boxed off
How many times have you seen a child receive a fancy present for Christmas and they actually end up playing with the box? That’s creative play in action, people! Grab a box from your local hardware or supermarket if you don’t have one lying around. Hand over the crayons and help your little one create something – it could be a car, a cubby house, a doll’s house – half the fun is seeing what it turns into.
Dancing Queens and Kings
Kids love music and whirling around randomly – especially in supermarket aisles, it seems! Up the ante with their physical movement and create an accessory for them to dance with. Something as simple as a long ribbon can turn your one into a little gymnast in their mind. Give them a rolling pin and they can become the baton twirler and leader of the marching band!
Build outdoor rooms
There certainly are plenty of bush and outdoor spaces in the Illawarra and don’t we love it! Building outdoor spaces, rooms and furniture on daily walks is something fun and simple you can do with children. Use logs, fallen sticks, rocks….whatever you can find to make your own ‘furniture’.
The art of nature
Make a beautiful artwork from items collected on a bushwalk. Leaves, flowers, feathers (our favourite!) and sticks can be the basis for a creative piece of art – just glue or sticky tape elements on to a piece of paper or cardboard then give your little one crayons or pencils to decorate around the collected nature items.
Through the eyes of a child
Head outdoors at dusk with a toilet roll or paper towel roll, lie on your backs in the backyard on a blanket and watch the stars come out. That toilet roll will become the Hubble telescope in the hands of your little one! Or tape two paper towel rolls together to create binoculars! Create the bow of a ship with your outdoor furniture, and voila – your daughter or son is now a pirate, or the captain of a ship or an explorer.
See? Fun and simple and sooooo not expensive to do. And the best bit? You’ll channel your own inner child and fire up your own imagination too, we bet!