I find it amazing what preschoolers can come up. When you least expect it, their little minds are full of great ideas. Children are constant sponges that soak up everything that is said and done around them. There is no escape, at some point you are going to say something that you pray they won’t pick up but needless to say they will.
Anyhow back to the imagination. We are encouraged to let the kids imagine, to give them the opportunity to imagine and I think the reason is, the more they imagine, the more they try things and learn. There are a lot of ways to encourage them to imagine, but one of the things they can use is toys. There are several different kinds of toys, but you want to get those that are pretty general, boys or girls can use them, and they can be used in a variety of ways.
We purchase toys that we all like to play with, like cars, trains, little people, blocks and balls. There are a lot of toys that you can use, but check out this list as well:
Blocks, PlayDoh, Dress Up Items (careers, castle, fairy tales), Balls, and Books. The best thing about all of these is that kids of all ages can use them, and there are so many things you can do with them. Art supplies let kids express themselves as well and this encourages imagination.
If you have more ideas, let me know by commenting below.