Free Their Imagination

It seems like with all the technology  available to our children they have fewer and fewer opportunities to just use their imaginations; just pure imagination. I remember when I was a kid, we would spend the entire summer outside, when it was stinking hot and even when it was raining. We would wake up everyday excited for the adventure, the unknown of every day, excited to explore and discover all the amazing adventures outside our front door. It is a different time now. Children are organized, supervised, huddled, shipped off, signed up and carted around to play dates, sporting events, indoor playgrounds, lessons and parties. There are very few days my own children get to be on their own to let their imaginations run wild but when they do it is just magical, for them and for me.



One of the things my children love to do is to make concoctions or experiments (as they like to call them). They have a toy kitchen that is always outside, they just let their imaginations run wild.

 The girls grab whatever they can find in the garden;  leaves, flowers and dirt, and stir it around with water. It can be a mucky mess but they have so much fun. They can spend hours outside stirring and cooking and concocting.

 It can be hard for kids to learn how to throw off the constraints of an adult world and let loose but when it happens they have so much fun. One of the things we love to do together is to watch the clouds and guess what they are, imagine what creations the clouds are creating in the sky. It is a moving art show.

 It is especially fun while sitting at the end of the dock at the cottage. The lake water is crisp, the sky is blue and the clouds are fluffy white and all around you can hear the water lapping, the birds chirping and the wind rustling the leaves in the trees. Just bliss!!!!!!!

 While at our cottage over the Canada Day long weekend my youngest daughter, who was 6 years old at the time, and I sat on the dock enjoying the day, soaking up the sun and talking. She was playing with some cable ties. You know the ones that you use to bundle computer cables with.

(This picture seems so funny when you just look at it without reading the post first! I promise if you read it will make sense)

 We used them to attach buckets and a floating duck t our waterline in the lake so that boats don't drive over it. She was creating things with two black ties. It was pure imagination at work. She crafted, one making a loop and a straight stick, stating it was her microphone and started to sing. She then said "Look this is my lasso and I am going to lasso you."  She sat talking and creating and playing for about an hour on the dock. No iPad, no computer, no phone; just pure imagination.

Of course, there is nothing better than turning your imagination lose with paper and crayons. Some of the best masterpieces are created this way. One of the things my kids love to do is draw. They play a game with their dad who is an illustrator. They each create a scribble on a piece of paper and then hand it over to the other person, often their dad, to see what they can make from the scribble. They craft a masterpiece from the scribble.


 I created this post as part of the Energizer Free Their Imagination blog tour. It is something that is really important to me as a Mom. I want my children to grow up knowing how to tap into their imaginations. As a writer and blogger everything I do is about using my imagination to craft articles and tell stories. It is something that enriches my life and I want my children to grow up always nourishing their imaginations. As part of Energizer's efforts to celebrate the joy and benefits of play and imagination they are offering a fantastic contest with over 2,000 Crayola prizes to be won. There will be hourly draws from now until October 1, 2012. As a special bonus, there is a unique PIN, that will get you an extra chance to win. You can enter only once per hour but you can use multiple PINs for additional bonuses.

My exclusive code to share with all of you is BestInToys

 For more information check out www.facebook.com/EnergizerBunnyCanada 

 Disclosure – I am participating in the Energizer program by Mom Central Canada.  I received compensation for my participation in this campaign.  The opinions on this blog are my own.