While we all encourage children to use their imaginations, there are better times than the middle of the night when imagined monsters hide under the bed. At school, when important notices never seem to make it all the home I often joke that there’s a monster in the backpack with an appetite for paper.
Using imagination is an important kindergarten readiness skill. Imagining exercises brains, making new pathways and more complex connections. Child development experts are finding that imagination is vital for understanding reality and other people. Imagination enables children to learn about things they haven’t experienced and to understand how another person is feeling.
For a readiness for kindergarten imagination activity, zip up your child’s backpack and talk about what could be inside. I found a fun book that has a monster in the backpack written by Lisa Moser, but you and your child can likely think of other things. Bottles have genies, maybe backpacks do too. What imagination fun is in your backpack?