imagination Archives - Forever In Mom Genes

Kids Learning To Play Again: A Quarantine Positive

Apr 23 2020

I still can’t believe this is happening. It’s like we’re living out a Netflix series. I’ve shared a bit about my personal struggles with the stress and my OMG PTSD, and so many have reached out to tell me I’m not freaking out alone. Thanks for that. This situation is disarming with obvious negatives. But, during this scary pandemic, there are some unexpected positives. Here’s one. Kids are kicking it old school and it’s refreshing. It feels like some kind of childhood reset. Kids are learning to play again—they’re imagining, crafting, and pretending. Not all day, every day. Let’s be real. My kids have spent way more time online than I care to admit. For e-learning of course, but also for fluffy entertainment. When I’m working and need to concentrate, my daughter is usually on a device. Sometimes she’s doing schoolwork. Sometimes she’s on a chat app talking to a friend. Sometimes she’s watching Ninja Kids TV (her current obsession) on You Tube. Even screenagers are starting to say enough is enough and have found other ways to entertain themselves… offline. OFFLINE—the mysterious place where we GenXers used to roam, free-range style, until the streetlights turned on. My son picked up his[…]

Dec 27 2014

Santa came to town bearing Barbies and Barbie transportation. This is our sweet Barbie loving girl’s reaction when she opened this “Barbie Sisters Life in the Dreamhouse Camper”. So much fun! She’s a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie wer-her-erld…

May 05 2014

Even helpful and hard working super heros are sometimes dismissed. Take what happened to the Incredibles. That poor family was completely dissed by a cynical society. And check out this poor super hero. Just trying to keep his grandparents; backyard safe and free of evil, look at how his sister and family completely disregards his efforts! To be frank, it’s hard to take super heroes seriously when their cape is held on with a clothes peg. Just saying.

Oct 12 2010

Life with kids can get messy. I’ve had to curb my neat freak ways and let the blocks (and Lego pieces and dolls and picture books) fall where they may. My kitchen these days looks like a toy store exploded and honestly, I’m ok with it. As long as the bulk of it stays off the floor so I don’t trip while carrying a pot a boiling spaghetti water, I’m good. We have a “choice board” posted in the kitchen. This is where Avery’s activities are displayed for the day. This way she knows what to expect. It also helps to build language skills and provides her with choices. There’s rarely a day when she doesn’t select “kitchen play” as one of her free choice activities. Here’s the thing, kids learn by playing. Imaginations come to life in the kitchen and all children benefit from role playing and imitating. Children, like Avery, who have speech delays benefit even more. We set up a play kitchen IN our kitchen. It’s fully stocked with plastic dishes, utensils, pots and pans and plastic food of every description. When I’m in the “big” kitchen preparing a meal..what? I do so cook!…Avery is often right[…]

Tag - imagination

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