Some say children don't know how to be creative today like they used to do. They have too many sophisticated toys and have lost the pleasures of creating their own amusements. I have not seen that to be true with my grandchildren. I suspect parents play a big role in whether children learn to be imaginative.
This trip, as I usually do, I found some small animals to give them to play with and as a remembrance of where they had been. I love the small Schleich animal figures where each creature is so perfectl
y sculpted. Each child got a bear and I told them if they could work out who got which of four other wild animals, they could have them also. Before we left, they had solved that division. Necessity is the mother of invention.One day they took them out onto the little beach and created habitats. Their moms got into it and a whole miniature world of dens and woods became interesting and creative by gathering and placing rocks, sticks an
d cones.When children have access to natural materials, they haven't changed all that much. The only difference between their play and something that could have been a hundred years ago is they didn't create the animals from sticks. It would have been no less pleasurable if they had. The 21 month old became the force of nature that revamped the structures once in awhile.
When we left, they took the habitat apart to leave the beach as they had found it.
It's good to see that children still know how to be creative. Of course encouragement is a wonderful ingredient.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderfully imaginative of them and you! That ability and need to create---given the opportunity--is very very strong in children, don't you think? One would hope that still exists, and it certainly does in your grandchildren...!
ReplyDeleteI enlarged the photos in order to fully appreciate the creativity of your grandchildren and their mothers. They did a good job. I especially loved the feather tree.
ReplyDeleteI know that children can still be creative with the proper encouragement.
Love their little created worlds.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a delight to visit here! Peace, MandT
ReplyDeleteKids are just as resourceful as ever as long as there is dirt and water. I love those miniature animals you describe. Fritz and Henry have them, too. What a wonderful family vacation you had.
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