Creativity Chit-Chat: Enjoying ‘Playtime’ with my boy (Imaginative Play)

by Matthew Worwood

I’ve been trying to sort through my thousands of photos on my Mac computer. I can’t wait for someone to produce an application that removes all the duplicates, and automatically places them in folders based on your child’s age, the season, and location. One of the images of Lucas from last winter was taken on a walk around our complex – I remember it lasted hours as we battled the elements, climbed up steep mountains, and transported to different dimensions (though there was always some connection to Frozen). I’ve had many similar experiences, a bike ride in Cape Code that turned into an adventure with a Gruffalo, fairies, a magical wood, dinosaur bones, and a scary forest. Another involved a giant Tsunami that we just survived on a beach in Italy.

See Also: My Magical Garden: Where were your Imaginary Worlds?

Giving up to your child’s imagination is so easy when you let go of your surroundings. You can visit magical places, and rekindle childhood connections. Sadly, I know this won’t last, and already I feel some of our recent walks are becoming more fact-based and centered on real-world questions. But, joining in with the imaginative play, not only encourages creative thinking, it makes for some blissful memories of ‘playtime’ with our children.

Lucas finally reaches the top of a mountain, or rather volcano covered in Snow - I can't remember!

Lucas finally reaches the top of a mountain, or rather volcano covered in Snow – I can’t remember!

 

Ah yes - Lucas's obsession with Mermaids. Here he had just washed up on a beach and was about to grow legs.

Ah yes – Lucas’s obsession with Mermaids. Here he had just washed up on a beach and was about to grow legs.

 

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Getting ready for our first bike ride. Little did we know that we were embarking on an adventure to a magical wood full of fairies and gruffalo.

 

Moments after the giant wave ripped us apart.

Moments after the giant wave capsized our boat, and ripped us apart, while enjoying the sun on a beach in Italy.


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Matthew Worwood
Matthew Worwood is an educator, Creative Studies scholar-practitioner, and co-host of the Fueling Creativity in Education podcast. He is a professor of Digital Media Design at the University of Connecticut and a husband and proud father to three young boys.

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