No, it’s not really a muscle, but the imagination needs to be exercised regularly just as if it were. And your child’s (grandchild’s, godchild’s) imagination needs to grow and thrive even if he/she has no aspirations to be a writer or anything else in the creative field.Inventors use their imaginations to dream up needed inventions. Scientists use their imaginations to dream up solutions to humankind’s problems. Teachers use their imaginations to make their lessons more interesting. Doctors use their imaginations to think of new ways to treat illnesses and other conditions, and to invent new apparatuses with which to perform surgeries and other procedures.
I could go on, but you get the idea: Many fields of endeavor rely on the individual’s imagination, not only the fields normally thought of as “creative.”
And even if your child grows up to work in a field where the imagination is not a particular asset, it may be a help to him or her in his/her leisure activities.
It’s up to you to help your child exercise his/her imagination. There are a variety of ways to do that.
- Encourage him/her to write a story.
- Encourage him/her to write a poem.
- Encourage him/her to put on a puppet show.
- Encourage him/her to draw, paint, or make things out of clay.
- Ask him/her questions that call for the use of his/her imagination.
Want some examples of this last item? I call these “think-abouts.”
- Describe a perfect day.
- If you could live anywhere on earth, where would you choose to live, and why?
- If you could live in any kind of house—including not only houses and apartments but tents, igloos, converted barns, and other less-ordinary structures—where would you choose to live? What would it be like?
- If you could be anyone else, who would you choose to be?
- If there were no school to go to, what would you do with your life right now if you could do anything at all?
- If you could have any real person, of any age, as a sister or brother, who would you pick (and why)?
- If you could have any fictional person, of any age, as a sister or brother, who would you pick (and why)?
- If you could have any famous people as parents, who would you pick (and why)?
- If you could have any fictional people as parents, who would you pick (and why)?
- Too many dogs are named “Spot,” “King,” “Rover,” and “Fido.” Think of some more inventive, imaginative names for dogs.
However you do it, encourage your child to exercise his/her imagination “muscle.” Don’t let it atrophy. Like the mind, the imagination is a terrible thing to waste!