The next time you’re trying to figure out how to structure your child’s time, consider this: when it comes to developing imagination, boredom is a wonderful teacher.
When we were bored as young children, we simply imagined our way out of the boredom by dreaming up something that interested us. We imagined not just fantastic creatures, places and activities, but entire mysteries, with complex plots, that grew and evolved over time! Our imaginations weren’t some isolated inner process. We lived them!
I believe the powers of imagination that we developed to fill our own empty time were the foundation for my lifelong creative explorations (including, of course, Shankman & O’Neill children's books).
Today, I’m never bored because there’s never enough time to finish my own thoughts and imaginings. So that’s what I do, happily, in every empty moment.
The next time you’re trying to figure out how to structure your child’s time, consider this: when it comes to developing imagination, boredom is a wonderful teacher.