If you have a child who is hungry for knowledge and information...
PLEASE GIVE IT TO THEM! A child's brain is like sponge, always soaking
up everything around them. Give them the information that will be of
value to them. Sitting in front of a TV screen watching cartoons is not
really creating any sort of spark in their imagination.
Here are a few tips to help your children develop their creativity.
A
zoo is a wonderful place to take a child. Seeing the many animals that
live at the zoo and discovering all that it has to offer. I am sure that
many children dream about growing up to be a caretaker at a zoo after
visiting.
Do you have a museum in your area? I live in
Michigan...Home of Henry Ford. We are fortunate to have Greenfield
Village not far from us. When you visit Greenfield Village is like
stepping into an 80-acre time machine. It takes you back to the sights,
sounds and sensations of America’s past. There are 83 authentic,
historic structures.
Children especially love to step back in time
at Greenfield Village. Most everything is outside and it is only open
during the summer months. Many family's plan their vacations around
spending time at this wonderful place.
Here in our immediate area
we have just received recognition of having an historical battle ground.
They have many events planned around this area both during the summer
as well as the winter. Many times actors will re-inact the battle that
took place there.
Women as well as men dress in period clothes and
act and preform as if they were living many years ago. What better way
to spark imagination on a child then to take them to one of these event.
Taking them back in time.
A wonderful way to prepare your child
for a visit to the zoo or to a museum might be to read a book to them
about the place you are taking them to. Doing a Google search may lead
you to some very interesting website to read up on and the search will
also be able to bring up ideas of books that you can borrow from the
local library.
If you live in the city spend a day in the country.
Visit a working farm. Let your children see where the milk that they
drink comes from. Show them that eggs don't just show up at the grocery
store.... Chicken actually lay them. You can have eggs without a Rooster
but you can not have baby chicks without the services of that Rooster.
Children
are so special. Many years ago we took in 2 rheas when they were just
babies. Rheas are the smallest of the rattie breed, there is the ostrich
the emu and then the rhea. When they are grown they are about shoulder
height to me so they are still a big bird.
These baby birds were
very sick. I gave them shots day and night for weeks. I also force fed
them for well over a month. They finally got better and we let them have
the run of our fenced in back yard.
These were 2 girls, one white
and one grey... Ebony and Ivory. We had them in our back yard for a
couple of years and they started to lay eggs. Since there was no male
they were not fertile. We had no intent on eating these huge eggs so I
just collected them and set them off to the side. My plan was to one day
get out my drill and blow out the insides. But until I had a huge pile I
was not about to make that mess more than once.
The little
neighbor boy came over one day for a visit and as we were walking around
the back yard with these 2 little girls and we came upon this pile of
eggs. He said when are you going to have babies. I told him that those
eggs were infertile and that they would not produce babies.
I saw
that this answer was not setting very well with this little boy by the
look on his face. He asked again but what about the babies? I said I
need a boy to have babies and I only have 2 girls.... he looked at me as
he tapped his chest and said.. "Me a boy".
It was all I could do
to keep from laughing at the innocents of that sweet little boys
statement. This same little boy now has his own flock of chickens and he
sells their eggs. He is only in Jr. high school, but he already has a
very nice egg business going.
You just never know what may spark
interest in your child that is why it is so important to always
encourage them in what ever they do or are expressing an interest in.
Games
that encourage abstract thinking are a wonderful way to get your child
to explore. A simple game might be to draw a map that they have to
follow to get to a prize...You might include silly clues along the way.
Asking them to go find an item of clothes such as a base ball cap. The
next items me be a ball and bat. At the end of the adventure might be
tickets to see a base ball game.
I am sure that you get the idea.
Help those little sponge minds expand with Knowledge. Just remember...
Garbage in... Garbage out!
Some grown up people have no
imagination...I find that very sad. I am not sure what they must have
done as a child. Pretending and playing are so very important when you
are young.
If you encourage your children when they are young to
have a good imagination and help they expand what they are thinking
about this will be so very beneficial when they get older.
Reading is such a wonderful teaching tool. This is a book that will inspire your child and get that spark going. Inspirational Kids Stories.
Goal Setting and Kids is a website that is dedicated to teaching your children about visualization, goal setting, money and The Law of Attraction. I hope you will visit and empower a child that you know and love!