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Entertainment Topics
Seeing With Your Imagination
Activity #1: The Doodle Game
When I was a child, one of the hardest things for me to do was to wait
for concerts to start. And having a brother who was to become a professional
musician meant many concerts. So my father used this game to keep me
busy until the lights went down. I’ve now shown this game to nearly 40,000 elementary students. It’s
easy enough for even the youngest of them to jump right in.
How to play
It’s very simple. Just grab a pencil and a piece of paper and draw a simple squiggly shape. That starting doodle should be interesting without being too complicated. Here’s
one I did for students at a school.
Now, let your child make something out of it. Encourage her to turn it around before beginning to draw. Remember, this game is about learning to see with one’s imagination. Turning it gives the mind’s eye different possibilities. Let me show you what the four children I chose from the audience did with this shape.
Just for fun, let me show you a few results I got when I gave this same
shape to a group of adults.
(That last one was mine. Now, that’s a beehive hairdo!)
So, the game works both ways — you can start and your child finishes, or let the child do a shape for you to complete. I suppose some of you are thinking, Yes, but what if I’m not an artist? It doesn’t matter. Children love their parents’ drawings no matter how polished they are. Your sense of adventure will encourage your child to try new ideas, too.
So, whenever you have some time to fill with your child — a concert, a doctor’s office, or before bedtime — you’ll have something to keep your minds engaged. Just make sure you’ve brought some paper. And your imagination!
— Bruce Van Patter
Try another activity.
Do you have thoughts, questions, advice on this topic? Post your stories and comments in the forum for other parents to respond to. Enter the forum now.
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