![]() Empathy also helps kids avoid bullying, one of the most worrisome social challenges young kids face. Taking actions (and watching adults take actions) that benefit other people, caring for animals and their environment and even just wondering how other people or creatures are feeling helps build both positive habits and a strong base for the development of empathy.Įmpathy is at the root of what psychologists call “pro-social” behavior-behavior that people must develop in order to develop a conscience, build close relationships, maintain friendships, and develop strong communities. Even though young children are simply working on gaining control over their emotions and won’t learn to really think about their emotions and the cause and effect of their behavior on others until their school years, they can start to develop the foundation for empathy much earlier. All we need to do is nurture it in them-that of course is now always easy. ![]() ![]() The good news is, the more we study, it appears that children are empathetic by nature. Simply put, empathy is the ability to think and care about the feelings and needs of others. An individual's creativity in particular, both requires and is limited by her imagination. These are the skills that will help kids balance emotions, form healthy relationships, work effectively on teams, stay focused in school, be successful at various jobs and solve the problems of an increasingly complicated world. Why does it matter? An ever growing body of research substantiates the many benefits of pretend play including the enhanced development of: language and communication skills self-control and empathy flexible and abstract thinking and creativity. I am sad, but then become happy after I save the village from certain doom). good and bad guys in the same story), and/or the playful manipulation of ideas and emotions (e.g. As kids' pretend play grows more sophisticated, these stories come to involve not only the creative use of objects, but multiple perspectives (e.g. Still yet, they may themselves take on the properties of someone or something else.įrom there, pretend play evolves into acting out scenarios or stories, those getting increasingly intricate as imagination develops. Or, they may start to give an object certain properties (e.g. For example, kids may use objects to represent something else (e.g. We all likely have a sense of what we mean by make believe or good old "pretend play." How do experts define it, though? To some, there are different types of make believe that vary in sophistication and make pretend play different than other types of play. How does imagination develop in childhood? Through an increasingly sophisticated life of make believe. Imagination is defined in many ways, but one we like is, "the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality." This is no small task to little kids, and yet young childhood is a time in which imagination is developed more than any other. Although our kids are still far from public office or the boardroom, today's political and business leaders worldwide are already pointing to creativity as the most important leadership quality for the future.Īlthough years from the art studio or design lab, little kids can learn to think and act creatively if you give them time and the right practice. A lot of heavy stuff is going to go down in our kids' lifetime, and their generation will need to imagine and implement solutions to big and very complicated problems. ![]() On a more practical level, it's also the means by which humans of all ages make an impact on the world and other people around them. ![]() Simply put, without creativity, we don't think our kids will live a full life. We could not agree more with Sir Ken Robinson that, "Creativity is as important now in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.” Why, you ask? For one, it is through being creative that a person is able to get senses, sensibility and spirit working together. So, to help kids develop creativity, we parents need to nurture kids' imaginations and give them lots of chances to design, test, redesign and implement their ideas. What is Creativity? By creativity, we mean the ability to both imagine original ideas or solutions to problems and actually do what needs to be done to make them happen. ![]()
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