How does it feel when your young on draws a circle on the wet soiled ground with a small stone. And how it is when he adds details in his drawn circle. Sometimes he modifies it in a sun by adding some uneven rays around the circle. Occasionally he changes it into a wheel of a car, trying to have a huge one than his elder brother.
This is an amazing feeling as I have experienced these feelings when my child was doing all this stuff on a sunny winter morning. My younger son’s activities in the playground of our school made me write this piece of article, as it was a fabulous experience for me to watch my 3 years old son’s drawings on the wet ground.
This is just one instance of kids’ activities. We see a lot of their activities but not appreciate them or do not come at their level of imagination. We see them making a boat with a box in their pretend play but prevent them from doing this as it will create a mess. Then we see them in the role of a chef in a restaurant presenting manuals to each other and shifting crockery here and there. But suddenly we comprehend the expense of our kitchen crockery and run towards them to stop them. These acts of ours ruin their game on a first hand whereas damage their self-confidence and self-esteem. They learn passivity through these acts of ours.
Then the question arises what should we do in this case when we need a nicely wiped clean house and confident kids also. There is not any rocket science in productive parenting. Simply provide them with their necessary tools and space indoors or outdoor and let them fly in their imagination.
Provide the kids with a stimulating environment where they can test their capabilities, their strength, and their weaknesses. Pretend play is very crucial for kids’ cognitive and social development.
Through imaginative play, they learn to communicate with each other. They learn sharing and empathy. They learn to express themselves. This stage is very crucial according to every psychologist. As it is the beginning of world recognition. A child comes into contact with the wider community apart of his mother and father. He starts exploring the world physically, mentally, cognitively and emotionally, whereas looking towards his parents as the guide and role models.
Because they are exploring their surroundings, they are accommodating their previous knowledge with the new one. They are learning in a boundary-free environment, where there is not any hard and fast rule of sitting at one place for hours and doing a hectic work. This is the true learning I think.
So parents give your kids some space and let them fly in their imagination.
