This is a demo store. No orders will be fulfilled.

Family & Friends Sale! Save 25% with code: SAVE25 + Free Shipping Orders $65+
Spark More Play™ with FREE Playfoam® Activities
Free Shipping on Orders of $79+
Close Nav
Toggle Nav
Menu
Account
My Cart

Ready? Set. Imagine! Easy ways to encourage imagination and creative thinking.

Let's Make Believe Imagination comes naturally to kids and there’s a reason. Child development experts agree that imagination is key in helping kids understand the world around them as well as process things they aren’t able to experience first-hand, like Ancient Egyptian civilization or the eating habits of dinosaurs. Nurturing imagination is developmentally important and crucial for cultivating creative thinking. For some fun – and easy – ways to encourage your child’s imagination on a daily basis, give these tips a try.Talk!
  • Tell YOUR story. Share stories from your own childhood, or your parents’ – and be descriptive! You’re passing down family history and wisdom; your child is stretching his or her imagination by picturing you as a child, your childhood home, and the rest of the scene you’re setting.
  • Make believe. Choose a person in a store, painting, or magazine ad and ask your child to tell you a story about that person. Where did he come from? What’s his job? Favorite food? Hobby? Pet?
  • Pass It On. Start a story, then “pass it on” to your child. Once they’ve added to the story, take it back and add a bit more. Continue until the tale is told!
  • Imagine that…Ask your child to imagine unbelievable scenarios and share his/her thoughts. Imagine that you’re the size of an ant. Imagine that you’re the only person on Earth. Imagine that you live underwater.
Dino - TalkCreate!
  • Make a collage. Cut out pictures from magazines or newspaper ads – people, pets, body parts, cars, nature, etc. Give the pile to your child, along with a sheet of paper and a glue stick, and let his or her imagination run wild.
  • Build a fairy house. Collect natural items like pine cones, acorns, cotton fluff, and seed pods. Then find a cozy corner of your yard and build a fairy house using your finds as furniture. An acorn cap makes a great bathroom sink!
  • Doodle an abstract shape on a sheet of paper and ask your child to turn it into something – and tell you a story about it, of course!
  • Get cloudy. Does the shape of a cloud above remind your child of anything? What does it look like? What could it be? What is it turning into as the wind blows?
Fairy GardenPlay
  • Role play is a child’s way of exploring his place in the world. Pretend to be a baker, doctor, business person, or vet. Stuffed animals, dolls, and action figures make great supporting characters.
  • Collect an assortment of random household objects like a toilet paper tube, ruler, and empty box and watch your child repurpose them for pretend play. Drive a toy car through the toilet paper tube tunnel and across the ruler bridge, balanced on two piles of books (of course).
  • Put on a puppet show! Whether you use a hand puppet, sock puppet, paper bag puppet, or Puppet-on-a-Stick™, puppet shows are a great way to encourage imagination. You might have to direct the script at the start, but you’ll be amazed at where your child takes the plot.
  • Take it outside. Head out back and cultivate a pretend garden – plant rocks as seeds and sticks as markers. What will you grow? Who will eat your crops?
Puppet Show
Share this post
Ready? Set. Imagine! Easy ways to encourage imagination and creative thinking. Let's Make Believe Imagination comes naturally to kids and there’s a reason. Child development experts agree that imagination is key in helping kids understand the world around them as well as process things they aren’t able to experience first-hand, like Ancient Egyptian civilization or the eating habits of dinosaurs. Nurturing imagination is developmentally important and crucial for cultivating creative thinking. For some fun – and easy – ways to encourage your child’s imagination on a daily basis, give these tips a try.Talk!
  • Tell YOUR story. Share stories from your own childhood, or your parents’ – and be descriptive! You’re passing down family history and wisdom; your child is stretching his or her imagination by picturing you as a child, your childhood home, and the rest of the scene you’re setting.
  • Make believe. Choose a person in a store, painting, or magazine ad and ask your child to tell you a story about that person. Where did he come from? What’s his job? Favorite food? Hobby? Pet?
  • Pass It On. Start a story, then “pass it on” to your child. Once they’ve added to the story, take it back and add a bit more. Continue until the tale is told!
  • Imagine that…Ask your child to imagine unbelievable scenarios and share his/her thoughts. Imagine that you’re the size of an ant. Imagine that you’re the only person on Earth. Imagine that you live underwater.
Dino - TalkCreate!
  • Make a collage. Cut out pictures from magazines or newspaper ads – people, pets, body parts, cars, nature, etc. Give the pile to your child, along with a sheet of paper and a glue stick, and let his or her imagination run wild.
  • Build a fairy house. Collect natural items like pine cones, acorns, cotton fluff, and seed pods. Then find a cozy corner of your yard and build a fairy house using your finds as furniture. An acorn cap makes a great bathroom sink!
  • Doodle an abstract shape on a sheet of paper and ask your child to turn it into something – and tell you a story about it, of course!
  • Get cloudy. Does the shape of a cloud above remind your child of anything? What does it look like? What could it be? What is it turning into as the wind blows?
Fairy GardenPlay
  • Role play is a child’s way of exploring his place in the world. Pretend to be a baker, doctor, business person, or vet. Stuffed animals, dolls, and action figures make great supporting characters.
  • Collect an assortment of random household objects like a toilet paper tube, ruler, and empty box and watch your child repurpose them for pretend play. Drive a toy car through the toilet paper tube tunnel and across the ruler bridge, balanced on two piles of books (of course).
  • Put on a puppet show! Whether you use a hand puppet, sock puppet, paper bag puppet, or Puppet-on-a-Stick™, puppet shows are a great way to encourage imagination. You might have to direct the script at the start, but you’ll be amazed at where your child takes the plot.
  • Take it outside. Head out back and cultivate a pretend garden – plant rocks as seeds and sticks as markers. What will you grow? Who will eat your crops?
Puppet Show READ MORE