This week we have really explored our imaginations as our children, along with a little help from parents, have created some terrifyingly wonderful costumes for Halloween but where do these ideas come from?
Of course many were traditional Halloween outfits, some based on scary movies and scary books but a few were incredibly ingenious with an outstanding level of creativity. For these children and their parents they have become active participants in the world of the imagination where daydreams have been harvested and a new reality created.
Young children are easily engaged in the world of imaginative play, they love pretending things, being different people in different situations. This sort of role-play flourishes in children with only a little encouragement. They explore the world through a ‘small world ‘ where children try out how to be part of the everyday world in the role of a doctor, a teacher or a pilot . They also take this further and start to harvest their daydreams when they become superheroes, dinosaur trainers and space explorers.
The importance of play cannot be underestimated; it is the time where we learn to do things through trial and error without the fear of failure, it is how we learn to solve problems and invent ways of achieving what we set out to do. Daydreaming is an essential part of this, a researcher at the University of York , Dr Jonathan Smallwood ,who specialises in the neuroscience of internal thought, says he believes “daydreaming is an attempt to make sense of life and so it is often increased if lots of change is taking place.” This is true and often observed by teachers who notice the child disappearing into their own world only to find out later that the family is experiencing some upheaval such as moving house or parents changing jobs.
Daydreaming is where we try and understand our place in the world, who we are, what we have done, what happened and what we would have liked to happen. This is not only vital for children but clearly a necessity in the busy and demanding life of an adult.
Daydreaming or reverie propels us beyond the reality we currently know. Daydreaming raises awareness of the beyond. And in doing so, we can envision the plethora of possibilities to make dreams realities.
Harvest your daydreams - create your new reality.
