Pretend Play & Magical Thinking

     Doing this assignment brought back so many memories. When I was around six years old I was obsessed with stuffed animals and would always bring all of them to life. Each one had their own personality and I would play "house" with them where I would act as the mother of my stuffed animals. Around that same age I received a gift that was one big bear/dog (not really sure what it is) that I have been stuck with until today. He had a personality until I was around ten and then I grew out of it. However, for this assignment I decided to bring him back to life. I still call him by the name that I would use when I was younger, which is Horace. I have no idea why I decided to call him that, but it I loved it and it stuck. He is fluent in both Spanish and English and loves sports. He has travelled the World with me, everywhere I go he always comes along. Horace was born in the United States, but has hispanic background. His favorite place in the world is Buenos Aires. He is pretty tall for his age, which benefits him when he plays basketball. His favorite food is pizza and dislikes poutine, since he has no idea what it is. He is still getting to know Canada and so far he is enjoying the city life. 
     This weeks are word is: imagination. According to Schirrmacher and Fox (2009) imagination is forming a mental image that is perceived as unreal, in which children can use during play, such as dramatic play. I believe this is the perfect word for this assignment. Children use creative thinking to have their objects come to life. The way the children choose the objects' personality, likes and dislikes I believe is using their imagination in a creative way. 
      I find this activity a great way for children to enhance their imagination. When I was younger, I enjoyed bringing objects to life and it would give me a way to express myself. I feel that having children doing activities such as this one, can give them the opportunity to express what they are feeling. It can be included into the classroom routine, have each child bring in a stuffed animal or an object and have them bring them to life. It would be interesting to see what each individual child comes up with! There are many ways in which teachers can bring in the idea of pretend play and magical thinking, and this activity is definitely a way. 

Horace

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6^th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar.