The Imagination Tree

Creative play and learning for kids

I is for Imaginative Play!

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The wonderful Deborah from Teach Preschool is celebrating a very important milestone today! She has reached 20,000 followers on Facebook! She has shown so much dedication and enthusiasm for all things preschool related for so long, and has become a leading influence in her field. She has also shown huge support for newer bloggers by promoting their posts on her facebook page and sharing the creativity around! We love you Deborah, keep up the fantastic work! To celebrate she has arranged a whole alphabet of preschool fun and learning posts across more than 26 blogs! Of course what other letter could I pick apart from “I” for Imagination?!
 “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited but imagination embraces the entire world.” Albert Einstein.
Cakie and Pop playing at birthday parties, a much loved and often repeated game!
What’s so wonderful about imaginative play?
  • it is a powerful tool for little ones to try and make sense of the world around them, by adopting roles, copying actions and behaviours and consolidating and practising new experiences until they understand them better
  • it requires little to no money as, after all, it’s all about using the imagination or everyday objects to represent others, not expensive or pre-described toys
  • it develops a strong creative ability from an early age, which is so essential later on for lateral thinking, problem solving and “thinking outside the box”
  • it develops wonderful interactive, co-operative and turn taking skills, as children hand out and negotiate roles, adapt to each other’s ideas during play and work together to see the game through to completion
  • it opens up possibilities for keeping entertained and amused even when there is little to do, therefore decreasing reliance on outside stimulation, entertainment systems and reducing the much-dreaded saying “I’m BORED!” 
  • it encourages outside play and interaction with natural elements. A stick becomes a sword, some pebbles become cupcakes, leaves and mud become a mud pie!
Some of our favourite posts about imaginative play:





Right now, my two girls have the cushions off the sofa and have made them into a bridge? island? boat? stepping stones? all across the living room floor. They are having a wonderful time together, without the tv and using plenty of storytelling language. I love imaginative play!

Click the button to see Deborah’s ABC post and find a link to all the other letter of the alphabet!
ABC's of Teaching Preschoolers

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