“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere.” ― Carl Sagan

In a world saturated with technology, I think it is more important now than ever before, for children to be encouraged to develop their imagination. Playing games on a computer or tablet may be fictional and offer you an “other worldly” experience – but it does not to my mind do anything for the stimulation of the imagination – especially not for children!

Being fluent with technology is an essential part of every bodies lives today and it is important that children are familiar with it but not at the sacrifice of the natural development of their imagination.

I know that most of us as adults, will often joke about how when we were kids, we would be playing outside, sailing leaf boats down a gutter or pretending that a branch in a tree was a horse – but children these days – for the most part – are discussing the status of their Minecraft worlds and the like. Some are so bad that they look at you like you are from another planet when you tell them to go and play outside. Lol

Fortunately for me, my son has developed a naturally balanced appreciation for both technology as well as outdoor and imaginative play – but it still needs to be steered from time to time.

Jude has a fantastic imagination and loves to create his own little adventures. I will often find him outside with his dinosaurs having a battle or simply “living” their dinosaur lives. He is able to turn almost any situation with ANY toys or random objects into an adventure of some kind – and this to me is what stimulation of the imagination is all about.

“Children see magic because they look for it.” ― Christopher Moore

A little while ago, I started a YouTube channel for him. I did it for the primary reason of trying to bring a little more confidence into his life and so far, it has worked fabulously – but as we have gone along, I have also discovered that not only does the creation of these videos for his channel breed confidence within him, it is also educating him with regards to technology whilst still being able to engage in creative as well as stimulating learning and play.

He loves creating stuff for his channel so much and we have not done one for a while so they other day he actually came to tell me that we need to do a new video because he is “losing subscribers” haha! (Cuteness is!) We actually did start one about 2 weeks ago on how to make your own “slime” for playing with – but the experiment was unfortunately unsuccessful because mom bought an incorrect ingredient (mom fail! Lol)

But to give you an idea of why I think the creation of these videos is a fantastic way to get “modern children” interested in doing something other than staring at their tablets, I thought I would share a couple with you.

JUDE'S MAGIC SHOW

This was literally Jude’s first “formal” video for his channel so he was still a little nervy in front of the camera… but I will have you know that the entire idea was his as well as the suggestion for turning it into a video for his newly established channel.

JUDE'S CHEAT CHOCOLATE CAKE

In this video, Jude and I baked a cheat chocolate cake – I think that it is imperative that kids learn how to cook and bake – both boys AND girls! – Now you might be met with enthusiasm from most little girls – this is not always the case with little boys... When the exercise of the cooking or baking has a purpose behind it (to their mind anyway – being the channel) – suddenly, the reluctance turns to enthusiasm and needless to say… the reward of eating what you made afterwards is a great morale booster for them too…

THE EGGSPERIMENT

This next video was inspired by the science club which Jude attends at school, although they only did one of the experiments. The principal and science club teacher were so impressed with this video that they actually played it for the entire school at their Friday assembly. Again – not only wonderfully creative and educational play, but also a fantastic morale boost!

MONSTER TRUCK MADNESS

Last but not least of the videos I have chosen to share with you is this one – which was just for fun! Jude decided to set up a Monster Truck Madness Rally and we made a video of it. He had an absolute ball acting out the rally but also got equal satisfaction out of re-living it several times on youtube.

I think I have selected enough examples to illustrate the multi-faceted benefits from what Jude and I have been doing.

He continues to learn about technology by assisting me as we create each video.
His self-confidence grows a little more with each one that we create
And most importantly – he is learning, playing, having REAL fun and stimulating his mind and imagination along the way!

It is a “win win” situation for both parent and child – imagine that ;)

I thought I would share this "angle on things" for other parents - who might be either struggling to get their kids interested in "active play" or "away from technology".

Hope it inspires you :)

Until next time...

Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx