Imaginative Kids: Is It Ever Too Much of a Good Thing?
b"Is there such a thing as a too-imaginative kid? Parenting experts say no. Dr. Paul Harris, professor of education at Harvard and author of The Work of the Imagination, says that kids\\u2019 active imaginations are \\u201cessentially positive\\u201d and represent cognitive work, the way that children make sense of the world.\\xa0\\nBut if you\\u2019ve got a kid who prefers her imaginary friend to making real ones\\u2014 or who terrorizes the first grade by explaining how zombies can get into one\\u2019s home through the radiator\\u2014 you might still wonder whether there comes a time to tamp it all down and force our kids to deal with reality.\\xa0\\nIn this episode we talk about\\xa0\\n\\nthe considerable upsides of a huge imagination\\xa0\\n\\nwhy some children have imaginary friends\\xa0\\n\\nwhy some kids engage in \\u201cworldplay\\u201d for their imaginary worlds long after the other kids have moved on\\xa0\\n\\nhow to help anxious kids whose imaginations can become overly active\\xa0\\n\\nhow to encourage kids to engage in more imaginative play\\xa0\\n\\n\\nAnd here\\u2019s links to the books, articles, and research we discuss in this episode:\\xa0\\nLauren Child's Charlie and Lola book series, featuring the kind-of-visible Soren Lorensen\\nLouise Fitzhugh: Harriet the Spy\\nDr. Robin Alter: The Role of Imagination in Children with Anxiety\\nPaul L. Harris, The Work of the Imagination\\nJoshua A. Krisch for Fatherly: Brilliant Kids Visit (and Create) Imaginary Worlds\\nMichelle Root-Bernstein: The Creation of Imaginary Worlds\\nMarjorie Taylor: Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them \\nDeena Skolnik Weissberg: Distinguishing Imagination From Reality\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices"