Children love to imagine.  They love to dream.

I remember as a kid playing so many “pretend” games.  My sister and I played “house”, and school, and all sorts of other games.   We took care of our babies, had Barbie doll weddings, and pretended to be children abandoned in the woods to survive on their own.  W’e made mud cakes (and pies), explored the vast regions of our yard, and sang at the top of our lungs.

Those were the days when the possibilities were endless.  When we were free to dream and imagine.

Even gazing at the clouds was fascinating!  Our minds were free to see whatever we wanted to.  There were no rules.  We didn’t have to be realistic.  We could enjoy allowing our minds to create.  We could enjoy dreaming.

I think we forget to let our children dream.

In this age where productivity, is such a high value, we have devalued the importance of daydreaming.  Kids who daydream are labeled–inattentive, unfocused, ADD and the like.   Why would God have given us the ability to create, and experience things in our minds, if we weren’t supposed to use this ability? Kids are supposed to dream.  So are  you.

Daydreaming is productive, and it’s necessary for us to become all that we should be.

So I want to share a tool that I’ve recently discovered for helping your children dream.  Actually, it’s far more than helping them dream.  It’s a way that you can discover their passions, and desires.  It can become the catalyst for discussion, and for designing a unique educational program for your children.

It’s called a dream poster.

It’s a great way to help your children to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The book, “Gifted” by Chris Davis describes this powerful tool.

• You will need: a poster, lots of magazines(different types), scissors, double sided removable tape
• Instruct your child to look for pictures of things that they are interested in, that they would love to do, and that they dream of doing one day. Give them space and time to do this without your supervision. Let them know that they are free to put on their poster whatever they want. Encourage them to be completely honest about their desires. You don’t want them putting things on their poster that they know will please you.
• Then have them place the photos on the poster moving from the center of the poster to the outer edges. The center photo would be the most important thing to them. The outer edges would be the least important.
• Discuss the poster with your child. Ask them why they chose the photos and their placement on the poster.
• Tell your children that this poster is a work in progress and they are free to rearrange, add or delete photos at any time. (thus the need for removeable tape)
• Display this poster in place of importance. Continue to discuss this poster—especially as you see it change.

A variation to this exercise would be to make a book instead of a poster. The book would be a great way to turn this poster idea into a keep sake.

I haven’t done this with my children yet, but I plan to.

Have you discovered any great tools for helping your children to dream?

I’d love to hear what you discovered from your children’s dream posters.