In the era before home based technology, imagination was child's play. If fostered, it is still there today, but requires the adult to create both the time and space for it. I watch it every single day as Dax and Autumn play next door. Their little red wagon has been on so many different adventures. It is a train filled with out-of-state passengers (dolls). It is the car heading to Farmer's Market to pick up a few vegetables. It is the transport for valuable cargo. Every morning Nana and the kids play in the driveway for an hour or so, going places unseen to grown-ups, instead using their ability to create visual images in their mind's eye without the constraints and limits of their physical world. Dax and Autumn can change a twig into a wand or a bike into a chariot.
Just yesterday they went on a 'bear hunt' with their mom. Up into the woods for a hike they went... "We're going on a bear hunt!" (note: a mama bear and 3 cubs were actually spotted up there last week) Decked out with hydration backpacks they sped past our house on the way to adventure.
As the hunters headed for bear country I remembered an old song I used to sing with students" "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" It is filled with wonderful imagery. Here is a sample...
We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.
Uh-uh!
Grass!
Long wavy grass.
We can't go over it. We can't go under it.
Oh no!
We've got to go through it!
Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy!
We're going on a bear hunt. We're going catch a big one. What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.
Uh-uh!
A river!
A deep cold river. We can't go over it. We can't go under it.
Oh no!
We've got to go through it!
Splash splosh! Splash splosh! Splash splosh!
We're going on a bear hunt.
We're going catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We're not scared.
If you'd like a crash course in imagination, watch the author demonstrate how you too can go on a bear hunt. Then move into your own reality with a bit of fun and imagination.
When I was gifted with my dancing friend, I too could be at the ball dancing with the queen. Where did all that fun disappear too? That's why it is such fun to have the kids as my daily reminder... Dance on.