"I've been letting my mind wonder at night. My thoughts should have a curfew." Am Kidd

Saturday, October 31, 2009

What do you see?


When my children were small we played a game called "What do you see?" I would choose any item in the house, the park, or the beach. For example, I asked them to look at a chair and describe exactly what they saw. After they gave me a description of it's color and shape I would have them imagine the person who made the chair, what did he or she looked like? Where was the chair made? Spain or England perhaps? How did it get here? The object of the game was to stimulate their imagination and verbal abilities. Not surprisingly, they came up with many extraordinaries stories.


I miss my children's youth for I no longer have an "excuse" to ride the merry-go-round, to have a water fight with the hose, to walk into a puddle and play with mud. Gone are the days when silly stories were invented and told in a jiffy, without stopping to analyze whether or not they made sense. Laughter came easy and giggles as well...


My children have grown and I wonder if we were to play that game again today, what would I hear from them? But I do know what I'd tell them. I'd tell them I want to continue to play "What do you see?", take walks under the rain, bring home a stray cat, or color some crazy drawing that may come to mind. I believe it should never be too late to play the game. We may be surprised with what we find by looking beneath and beyond a chair, door, or lamp. Who knows? We may even find the elusive Childhood Spirit that got lost along the way!

Note: Photo from Weheartit.com

4 comments:

  1. We used to play lots of games when we were children.The usual card and board games,but also memory games like...'I went into a greengrocers and I bought a....' and the next person had to add their item on to yours and so it went on until the last person,who had to remember everyone elses before adding on their own.We'd also play 'observation' games on long car journeys,and 'I'm thinking of a person(living or dead) beginning with the letter--'
    Such happy memories!I still like to play these games,but my nieces and nephew are more into computor games etc sadly.

    Bellaboo

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  2. So true, computers haven taken over our children's imaginations! By the way, I love your dog, Bella! She is a beauty :)

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  3. Hello Alina!
    Thanks for visiting my blog and for your sweet comment :)
    Your game sounds wonderful! My children are growing up too fast now, 14 and 11. I still think I'll have a go at your game with them sometime though. Imagination should be stimulated at any age :)
    Have a magical day xx

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  4. Karen,
    With a mother like you, so very talented, I am sure their imagination must have been planted with the very best seeds! Let's keep those dreams coming:)

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Albert Schweitzer said "In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit" I thank you all!