Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Merce & Imaginative Play


One of my favorite things about kids are their imaginations.  They are full of wonder and excitement, and unbridled energy. They see a cloud shaped like an elephant and can make an entire story up to go along with it...and if its one of my kids, they will ramble through this story for an hour, forgetting the beginning and middle by the time they are at the end of the story.   I strongly believe that its our job as parents, caretakers, educators, family members, etc to foster this creativity and imagination...especially now in this convenient world of Fortnite, YouTube, and Netflix, as the need for imaginative play for entertainment is no longer a necessity. 

I don't talk about my 'former life' often. It usually results in an awkward "have you been judging me?!" moment of silence in real life conversations. No. I don't judge. I ANALYZE. There's a difference...yep. a big difference. 😂😂 Anyhow, I spent a good decade as a mental health clinician providing therapeutic services and psychological/psycho-educational/diagnostic evaluations primarily working with children & adolescents. And now I teach graduate level counseling students. So, I feel pretty credible when I say imaginative play is essential to a child's healthy and fulfilled development. It's so much more than just entertaining themselves. It's about communication skills, problem solving, empathy, and even social skills. And you know what, you can learn a lot about your kiddo when you observe or join in on their imaginative play. They can take charge and feel empowered in a world where, let's face it, they don't get the chance to be in control very often.  

Dolls are so much more than a toy. Imaginative play with dolls aids in developing and expressing empathy and sympathy for others. It's about communication of wants and needs and exerting authority, self-discovery and the development of confidence and self-esteem & -efficacy. And darn it, isn't it just the cutest thing ever?

Very soon, you will start to find themed 'boxes' on our website filled with items for imaginative play. We will give you a topic in the title on the site, but the rest will be a mystery. Each item carefully made, or chosen, for your child to create their own world of play with. These are special collaborative boxes from our handmade Love, Nana collection and our favorite woodworking artisan, The Knotty Burl, plus other items we see or find that we feel could be the perfect accent piece. Each box contains one of a kind items, while there may be similar themed boxes, no two will be the same. 

We have already started the process, and hope to have the first box ready to go very soon. We are so excited about this collaborative effort and cannot wait to start seeing these boxes in action!

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