Children MUST be allowed use their imagination!

In this photo you can see our lovely children from the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy in Sunningdale, Cape Town, performing an imaginative piece using towels. The idea behind this drama class was to get the children to think outside the box and work away from concrete thoughts to more abstract. Here they had to imagine that their towel was anything but a towel! They first were on magic carpets and then suddenly they all started meditating on their mats! These children really showed that they are able to think creatively. 

Teaching children to use their imagination is highly important for their cognitive development.  "The important concept of “theory of mind,” an awareness that one’s thoughts may differ from those of other persons  and that there are a variety of perspectives of which each of us is capable, is closely related to  imaginative play” (Jenkins & Astington, 2000; Leslie, 1987; Singer & Singer, 1990; Singer & Singer, 2005).

Duncan Rice, Principal of the Cape Town Academy which have over 3000 children attending classes each week says ‘We have to inspire children in imaginative thought. It is the creative people in our world who become the entrepreneurs and the inventors. We help children throughout the world in the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy to develop creative flair.’