My little girl wouldn’t go anyware without her plush Makka Pakka. I was dropping her off to school the other day when one of the teachers told me something funny. It was about her sister who, apparently, still keeps her childhood teddy bear in her bedroom. Arm… in their family bedroom. Her husband has tried to convince her get rid of the teddy bear, clearly not having a bath for the last 35 years, but no, she wouldn’t do it. This made me thinking – her teddy bear has become an absolute fetish of her childhood…
They are strange beings, the teddy bears. Yes, they are so much soaked in our lives that somehow become like a human being. A teddy bear helps a child grow up. It’s like a crutch, supporting kids in small but steady steps build their confidence and understanding of the world.
A teddy bear is like a mirror; a mirror of life, projecting the adult way of behaving onto their ‘plush’ being – sometimes taking the strikes of a child’s anger, other times – their implicit love and kindness. And so often a teddy bear would count to ten or write letters for the first time with the kids, sitting on their laps. A teddy bear would eat the greens when children are fussy, would be sleeping next to them, becoming a comforter… and be an example of the way a child should play, act and socialise with others. – An almost breathing teddy bear, marking its lively and iridescent presence in a child’s dream. And in their whole life.
It’s even funnier how, suddenly, from being a rope which helps a child to climb the mountain and give him the learning how to fall down and get up again, this same teddy bear becomes a thread, a fibre, linking the grown-up kid with our childhood, reminding us of our youth, joy and play, and the feeling of being child once.
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May 16, 2011
Through play, children learn the skills and knowledge needed for life; imaginative play encourages the toddler to use their mind and creative potential. Children can be taught to have the skills and knowledge to deal with life’s challenges and to solve problems creatively through being encouraged to be active in play that involves creativity, learning, investigation and discovery. There’s a saying “Give a person a fish and they eat for a day. Teach a person to fish and they eat for a lifetime.”
Imaginative Play
Play that is imaginative and creative will help the toddler to use their mind to find solutions to problems. One of the most important parts of imaginative play is for the child to pretend to be someone else or in different situations.
This type of play helps promote a toddler’s learning through using role play to develop their imagination. They will also be developing their emotional and social skills, sharing skills, manipulative skills, language and communication skills through this type of play. Not only this but it helps a child build on his or her self confidence and feelings of security.
Kids Play and Imagination
Through imaginative play, a child might run around, pretending he or she is a horse or a dog, an aeroplane or a train. At 3-4 years, they often do this on their own. At other times, an adult could encourage imaginative play so the child might explore new situations and fantasy worlds. This will help the child to explore their feelings and the world around them in a safe, supervised environment.
Children at this age are at Piaget’s preoperational stage. During the years from 2 to 6 Piaget saw the evidence of symbol use in many aspects of child’s behaviour. Children this age beginning to pretend in their play for example at age 2 or 3 or 4 a broom may become a horse, or a block may become a train.
Imaginative play, through building towers out of bocks, talking to and feeding their dolls, making tea with the tea set and dressing in grown-up clothes is important and should never be classed as trivial… Neither should soft toys or dolls be rejected as inappropriate for any age of either sex.
Examples of Imaginative Play Activities
Ask the children to make a pirate ship out of large cardboard boxes. They might make telescopes or binoculars out of kitchen tubes and a flag for their boat out of newspaper. Hats could be made and painted for them to wear while they’re at sea in their imaginary boat. How does this kind of play help in a child’s learning? As the children play with each other, they will be using their communication and language skills.
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July 24, 2010
They are strange beings, the teddy bears. Yes, they are so much soaked in our lives that somehow become like a human being. A teddy bear helps a child grow up. It’s like a crutch, supporting kids in small but steady steps build their confidence and understanding of the world.
