Scrabble: TOAD vs. TODE Imagination At Its Finest
According to Wikipedia, "Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left to right in rows or downward in columns, and be included in a standard dictionary." Research shows that playing games can improve children's abilities to organize, plan and get along with others. In addition, play helps with language, math, and social skills and even helps children cope with stress. Not sure about the stress part since many years ago, my cousin and I were playing Scrabble, and I came up with the word TODE, which I thought was how you spelled TOAD, and it's a standing joke in my family. Unlike the "Coloring Outside The Lines" scenario, now we need to spell correctly but let's get creative with our coloring. Since then, my spelling skills have greatly improved, but I can never live this one down. Since that innocent spelling mistake, my cousin has sent me toad stuff; in fact, I have so many toad ornaments I could decorate an entire Christmas tree. Thank you, cousin Renee.
Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Imagination is the door to possibilities. Creativity, ingenuity, and thinking outside the box, or lines, begin for child development. Imaginative and creative play is how children learn about the world. During imaginative play, children express themselves verbally and non-verbally, plan, interact, act, react, and try different roles. Great learning opportunities are possible when children participate in creative play with boxes, blocks, rocks, or dolls. And creatively thinking while manipulating playdough, creating recipes by mixing dirt and water, splashing in puddles, working with art materials, or pretending to fly can further development.
Imagination and creativity are also skills that our children will eventually need when they join the workforce. Playing house in our basement with my younger sister with our father's kitchen set brings back fun memories. The funny thing is that neither of us cooks as adults; lucky for us, our husbands do a marvelous job putting food on our tables. Also, they are both handy with tools like our father, so we are blessed with all their talents. If children witness the adults in their life being caring and nurturing, they will want to emulate that. Playing house can help foster a child's respect for the household chores they see their parents performing. It's not necessary to have fancy equipment for playing house. Kids can imagine all kinds of household scenarios with their favorite blankets and chairs in the family room, make a tent, and even use everyday items they see you using. With a pen and pad in hand, they can take your lunch order pretending to serve you a meal. Likely they will end up making more of a mess in the process, but let it happen.
Dressing in costumes can spark a kid's imagination as well. Having a costume box or drawer at home allows your kids to experiment with different characters and act out plays. You can use old clothes, props, accessories, or lengths of fabric. Their old Halloween costumes come in handy for this favorite activity, along with old deflated soccer balls as head attire. The sky is the limit, and you can get creative with them; as long as you are not helicopter parents, you'll be fine.
Kids stretch their imaginations during play and playing board games, like Scrabble, is one easy way. They create make-believe games or get lost in pretend worlds. A swing set can send them off to a fantasy land where ishkabibble's roamed, and they can act out different solutions while boosting their confidence. They make their own rules and learn how to follow or adapt those rules as needed. These are valuable skills for navigating life and developing relationships with others or giving them special memories. For me, these skills bring back fond memories of playing with my sisters and cousin Renee.
Toad or Tode, how do you creatively spell it?
