Imaginary Play And Stories Aren’t Just Fun, They Are Powerful Keys to Your Child’s Development

a bit of magic to help learn real-world skills, anyone?

When my kids were little, they fought off fierce dragons and giant dinosaurs, and hosted tea parties with Mr. Giraffe and Izzy the Astronaut, sometimes all before lunch.

We read tales of faraway lands, and of fairies who sprinkled magic in the gardens they tended… and caused a bit of mischief now and then. We went on adventures to other galaxies and explored magical caves hidden high up in snowy mountains.

These fantastical experiences lived in my kids’ imaginations. But they felt real.

Their eyes lit up when they recounted their imaginary fights with dragons or remembered which gemstones sparkled deep in an imaginary cave, or what newly invented scientific theory let them leap across the galaxy.

As adults, we too love fantastical stories that spark our imagination. They allow us to revisit our early childhood, but they also give us the chance to dream, explore, think outside the box, and create… if only in our imaginations.

When kids engage in imaginary play and listen to stories, they are doing more than playing ‘just for fun’ they are expanding their thinking process and capacity.

These activities help kids learn to think outside-the-box. They also help kids think beyond any box.

They help kids make connections across different subjects—physics, outer space, fantastical worlds—and connect imagination to real-world scenarios, a valuable life skill.

Imaginary play sparks creative thinking

When kids play, they often create entire worlds with characters like Mr. Giraffe or Izzy the Astronaut.

They use abstract thinking to imagine ideas, objects, and storylines that are not in their physical reality.

Should we be concerned that they are lost in a world of make-believe instead of grounded in their immediate physical reality?

Not at all. This type of play is constructive. We should celebrate our kids’ fantastical adventures and talk with them about their imaginary worlds. This way we can encourage their natural developmental process.

Imaginary play is one of the ways kids develop:

• Creativity

• Empathy

• Perspective

• Problem-solving

By imagining different scenarios, kids develop the ability to ‘see’ situations from different perspectives. Sometimes their characters also figure out unique solutions to problems in their imaginary world.

Recent studies show that this type of play helps kids develop creative, critical, and problem-solving abilities.

Mr. Giraffe might be very good at solving problems from his vantage point as a tall creature. Izzy the Astronaut might be excellent at using scientific principles (and some magic) to fix problems in another galaxy.

Kids often think of not just one, but multiple solutions when role-playing with imaginary characters, a key aspect of innovative thinking.

Stories bridge the gap between reality and fantasy

When kids listen to or read imaginary stories—fairy tales, myths, science fiction, fantasy—they immerse themselves in a fictional world.

Often these stories merge elements from reality—history or science—with fiction or fantastical or magical elements—think Harry Potter.

This blending of elements encourages kids to make connections between concepts that would otherwise stay in their ‘subject boxes.’

After all Harry Potter uses scientific principles, and his wand (and the occasional spell)  to solve ‘magical’ problems. Harry (and his readers) leap across fact and fiction, intertwine subjects, and use any ideas they can think of to solve problems.

When kids make the mental leaps along with Harry, they too form connections across subjects and ideas. They are thinking creatively and expanding their ability to form relationships between seemingly unrelated things.

Through imaginative play, kids integrate information from various subjects, assimilate it, and apply it—alongside Harry, or on their own with Mr. Giraffe, Izzy the Astronaut, or various dragons.

The ability to integrate and form relationships across different types of information is key to problem-solving.

The fact that the motivation is an imaginary scenario helps, rather than hinders, kids’ ability to think comprehensively.

It gives them the freedom to explore ideas. This freedom helps them build their creative thinking skills. Skills that are transferrable to real-life scenarios.

What is innovative thinking?

Innovative thinking connects imagination and real-world application.

Both imaginary play and stories help kids develop the ability to think outside the box.

Kids learn to challenge fixed or conventional ideas and explore ‘what if’ scenarios… like the kind Harry faces on an almost hourly basis.  Because the scenarios are imaginary, they give kids the freedom to focus on ‘possibility thinking’ and explore even wild solutions without worry.

‘Possibility thinking’ is the willingness to see possibilities everywhere instead of limitations.

These solutions may or may not be realistic, but the ability to practice ‘possibility thinking’ is a powerful tool—used by some of the most innovative thinkers in the real world.

For example, when we think of great inventions, we think of the greatness of the invention itself—light bulbs, combustion engines, airplanes, the internet. 

But what went into the successful invention was innovative thinking—possibility thinking—that required immense amounts of out-of-the-box, making-connections-across-a-wide-range-of-different-ideas thinking.

Innovation, inventiveness, creativity—all require the ability to imagine and test ideas, even wild ideas, without putting up the walls of the box around our thoughts. 

Recent studies suggest that imaginative activities strengthen children’s cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to switch between different concepts or perspectives. Kids who engage in imaginative play are better at seeing multiple solutions to a problem, a skill directly linked to innovative thinking.

Long-term impact of imaginary play on learning

Kids who develop creative thinking through imaginary play and stories are also more likely to excel in academic and life skills such as STEM, the arts, and entrepreneurship.

The ability to make connections across subjects makes kids more adaptable learners who can adjust to changing conditions—just like the ever-changing reality of Izzy the Astronaut’s fantastical world, Harry’s experience at Hogwarts, or Mr. Giraffe’s encounters with feisty, pre-lunch dragons.

Kids aren’t just playing, they are developing powerful thinking skills. 

When we encourage our kids to play, dream, and imagine, we are helping them build a foundational skill set with real-world application.

Real-world skills through imaginary play

Imagine how your kids are developing problem-solving and creative thinking skills in their pre-lunch play or afternoon reading about Muggles. 

They are also learning empathy through the imaginative process of putting themselves in someone else’s shoes, even when—especially when—it’s someone like Harry who needs all the help he can get to survive.

And when you take the time to play dragons or dinosaurs or tea party with your young kids or talk with them about Harry’s latest adventure over pizza?

You are helping them build communication skills that—just like innovative thinking skills—leap out of the box. 

Communication skills are valuable in everything your kid does. Learning strong communication skills, helps kids put their thoughts in order and learn narrative structure.

Talking about fantastical adventures is one of the most fun ways I can think of to help your kid improve those skills.

Imaginary play and stories also help kids develop confidence.

Like innovative thinking, confidence builds on developing, exploring, and testing out ideas. Imaginative play gives kids a limitless, risk-free zone to explore.

It’s also largely self-directed. Kids create their own worlds, rules, characters, and scenarios. They can fly or fight dragons and become heroes in their stories. They can express dreams, and challenges that they might not express in ‘real life’ through play.

When you combine the many cognitive skills with developmental skills like empathy, communication, and confidence, that kids build through imaginary play, it all sounds too good to be true.

But it is—true. And kids bring all those skills with them into their everyday lives.

Practical tips

Give your young kid the space to play make-believe. Play with them and talk with them about the worlds they invent.

Read to them from a wide range of stories: fairy tales, myths, or fantastical adventures. And talk with them about the stories.

Use storytelling as a language-building and writing tool. Give your kid writing exercises that allow them to write about characters or make up their own characters. Engage with them about the world-building, characters, and the scenarios they imagine.

Takeaways

Imaginary play is one of the most powerful ways kids develop a long list of real-world and life skills:

• adaptability and flexibility

• confidence and independent learning

• empathy, communication, and narrative thinking

• creativity, innovative thinking, and problem-solving

All from something they naturally love doing—playing.

As adults, we probably still love fantastical stories. We engage in the realm of the imaginary and fantastical every time we watch a Marvel movie or read a novel. We view it as just entertainment.

But the fantastical world of our kids’ imaginative play, isn’t just entertainment, it’s an optimal learning ground …and they are building skills for real life.

They know the dragons aren’t real or that magic wands don’t exist.

But they have the power of imagination, creativity and innovation to take the skills they learn through play and apply them to life.