What Ever Happened To Imagination?
Posted by geri on September 16th, 2008
Toys these days bear no resemblance to those of my childhood. What comprises a toy these days are blinking gizmos, moving pictures, and electronic marvels, do little to encourage a child to work our their body, and their minds! You know the saying “healthy body, healthy mind?” Well, children cannot fully develop their minds or their bodies by vegging out all day on the couch, in front of the television.
In order for children to grow up to be contributing members of society, they need to develop their creativity, adaptability, confidence, and respect. Toys alone cannot accomplish this. As a parent, I believe that the way to accomplish this is to spend time playing with your child instead of investing in expensive toys. In the long run, this will challenge him or her to learn how to entertain himself/herself, while encouraging to develop their own creativity and imagination.
My children love being read to, because I started reading to them since they were young. Sometimes, we’ll do crafts together. I’m not very crafty; however, the ideas for these crafts always come from books from the library. And when I do buy toys, I like to keep them simple. For example, many hours of fun can be had with wooden cars. An entire journey can be played out by taking a car for a road trip around the house!
In the long run, I think my children will appreciate my time more so than any blinking gizmo. Remember, quality time with your children is what helps them to develop into healthy adults.