"Let's pretend..." is how we usually introduce our Neighborhood of Make-Believe stories. Did you know that one of the most important "tools" children can bring to school is the ability to pretend and imagine?

When a teacher sets up a math problem about one child who has two apples and another child who has three apples and asks how many do they have altogether, the students don't see the children or the apples. To solve the problem, they have to be able to imagine those children with those apples.

Imagination helps children read, too, as they have to make the image in their minds of a "cat" as they read the word C-A-T, and they need to be able to visualize the characters in a story as they read it.

Encouraging Imagination -- What If?

You can encourage imagination with the children in your care in lots of ways. While the children are in line for the bathroom, waiting for snack, or gathering to go to the playground, ask "What If," questions, like "What if people walked on their hands...what would 'shoes' look like?" or "What if we only had purple food?" When you are reading a story, encourage the children to use their imagination and make up a different ending. Your interest in their ideas can nourish their imaginative thinking that will serve them well in school and in life.

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