Today, many parents, unfortunately, underestimate the importance of developing such a mental process as imagination in their child. Moms and dads, as a rule, worry only about the health of children and their preparation for school. Of course, to ensure that the baby grows strong and hardy is simply necessary. But as for the second question, here parents sometimes go too far. They begin to educate their child almost from the cradle, turning everything that is around him into a kind of school. The life of a little man in this case begins to obey almost one task. They begin to prepare him for school, and adults are trying to do it as best as possible. Unfortunately, this approach does not justify itself. Today, an increasing number of children are distinguished by their well-read, computer skills, they have many knowledge, but are psychologically completely unprepared for the role of students.
But the thing is that the leading activity for preschoolers is a game during which they develop such an ability as imagination. And if the kid at his age was under-played and under-imagined, then studying at school will be difficult for him. After all, readiness for the educational process is not at all the sum of any skills, abilities and knowledge. It is expressed in a chain of mental development, which leads to the appearance of “smart” emotions and the ability to anticipate the outcome of certain events, going beyond their borders.
The role of imagination
What does this concept mean? By imagination, we mean the ability of a person to create new images that arise on the basis of memories of various feelings, sensations and experiences. One who is capable of this sees the world broadly and variedly. Imagination is directly connected with memory and emotions, as well as with the perception of everything around. That is why the development of this ability has a great influence on the general formation of personality.
Imagination, representing a certain form of the psyche, is between perception and thinking. However, it continues to be separated from these two processes. It is worth noting that imagination is an absolutely necessary phenomenon. The fact is that the result of this process is all the cultural achievements that human society possesses. And in this there is already a connection between imagination and creativity.
A similar process, in addition, is closely related to cognition. There can be no last without this ability. Indeed, it is simply impossible to study any material without creating mental images. This also implies the connection of imagination with logical thinking. Sometimes a rational approach to solving a problem is powerless. In this case, the person must include his imagination. It will allow him to complete the missing parts. Similar fictitious elements will exist until true connections are discovered. Thus, imagination is an excellent stimulus to logical thinking.
Imagination functions
As you can see, a person’s ability to create mental images is extremely important for his life. This also becomes clear when studying the five functions of the imagination. Among them:
- Representation of the reality of images and their use in solving tasks. Such a function has a direct connection with thinking and organically enters into it.
- Regulation of various kinds of emotional states. The development of imagination and creativity allows a person to partially satisfy many of his needs, while removing the tension that arises.
- Direct participation in the arbitrary regulation of cognitive actions and conditions, including attention and perception, speech, memory and emotions. A person who evokes certain images in his mind is able to pay attention to the necessary events. Thanks to this, he has the ability to control statements, memories and perceptions.
- The formation of an individual plan of action, which is created in the mind through the manipulation of images.
- Programming and planning activities, as well as evaluating the implementation process and its correctness.
Parents who help the child develop his imagination along with other abilities significantly increase the chances of the child to find his place in the future. And this direction should certainly be taken into account during classes with children.
Types of imagination
Psychologists distinguish three types of this ability, each of which depends on the method of its formation. So, imagination happens:
- Reconstructing. In this case, the image is formed on the basis of information obtained from a self-read book or a heard story.
- Creative. In this case, the child fantasizes only with the help of his mind, not relying on any events and facts. This kind of imagination is the most productive. Its development should be addressed to parents and carers.
- Uncontrollable. In the presence of such imagination, the child not only creates certain images in his imagination, but also begins to “live” in the world he invented. At the same time, the kid is trying by all means to prove the reality of his fantasies. This kind of imagination can often be observed in children who live in problem families.
Imagination mechanism
Psychologists consider the process under consideration to be extremely complex. It begins with the perception of internal and external components that underlie human experience. Further, the information received is difficult to process. All complex whole is divided into parts. Some of them are stored in memory, while others are forgotten. A similar process is called dissociation. Further, the data obtained are subject to some changes. They represent an increase or decrease in impressions. The next step is the association, that is, the union of the changed elements. In conclusion, the actions of the mechanism of imagination are the reduction of a combination of individual images into a system. This allows you to build a rather complex picture.
Imagination as the basis of creativity
All human activities are divided into two types, each of which has its own characteristics. The first of them is reproductive, or reproducing. The second type of activity is combining.
Reproducing work is the previous experience of man, which ensures his adaptability to stable and familiar living conditions. This activity becomes quite real thanks to the plasticity of the brain, the substance of which changes and retains traces of such an effect.
With the combining or creative behavior of a person, the creation of new images and elements comes to the fore. This allows people to change their present and create the future. It is such a creative activity, which is based on the combining ability of the brain, in psychology is called imagination. And when creating new, but at the same time fabulous, unrealistic ideas, impossible objects and situations, it is called fantasy.
Imagination and creativity are inseparable concepts. The creation of new images and ideas is manifested in almost all aspects of human life. It makes possible technical, scientific and artistic creation. That is why it is worth refuting the definition of imagination that exists on a worldly level. Indeed, most often it is considered that in reality it does not carry absolutely any practical significance.
Concept of creativity
What do we say about chosen people, geniuses whose fruits of work were the creation of great works of art, serious scientific discoveries, as well as inventions that allowed for improvements in the field of technology? We consider them creative people. However, this ability is present not only in the cases described. Creativity takes place wherever a person combines and imagines, changes something or creates a new one. And it doesn’t matter if the results of his activities turn out to be great or not. After all, a huge part of everything that has already been created by mankind is made up of grains of individual elements of fantasy, imagination and creativity of a large number of people. Of course, the creation of great masterpieces remains the prerogative of geniuses. However, imagination and creativity are still considered those abilities of a person, without which he cannot exist. Moreover, they are simply necessary for people in their everyday lives.
Creates imagination and creativity in childhood. This becomes especially pronounced when observing the games of preschoolers. After all, each child at the same time uses the creative processing of previously experienced experiences. He combines the information received by the brain and builds from it a new reality that fully meets all the attractions and needs of a small person. It is in the ability to create building and combining the old in new combinations that the creativity and imagination of preschoolers find their manifestations.
Techniques for creating new ideas
What are the distinguishing features of imagination and creativity? They are their methods, that is, the ways in which new images are created.
- Agglutination. This method is a combination of various parts that cannot be imagined side by side in everyday life. An example of a combination of imagination and creativity are such classic fairy tale characters as a bird-man or a beast-man.
- Hyperbolization. A similar way of thinking in imagination and creativity is a paradoxical decrease or increase in either the whole object or its individual parts. This technique is known to us by some fairy-tale characters, including Gulliver, Dwarf Nose, and Boy with a finger.
- Schematization. This method of creating fantasy images is a merger of individual representations, to completely smooth out their differences. An example of this is any schematic representation.
- Typing. For this way of thinking and imagination in creativity, it is characteristic to highlight some essential fact, which is repeated in homogeneous phenomena and embodied in a single concrete object. An example is the idea of professional images of a doctor, worker, etc.
- Emphasis. In this case, the role of imagination in creativity consists in emphasizing certain signs, properties and features of an object, highlighting some part or part. A classic example of this method is caricature and cartoon.
The creation of images is always based on analogy and synthesis. The first of these two concepts is sometimes stepwise, distant, immediate or close. For example, if you look at the shape of an airplane, then it will resemble a soaring bird. This analogy is close. Spaceship refers to the distant view of this concept. In this case, there is an analogy with a sea ship. Synthesis is a specific generalization in creating a holistic and complex image.
Activity
The role of imagination in children's creativity is great. That is why work on its development is becoming one of the main activities of the DOE. Most often, the development of the imagination and creativity of children is carried out in drawing classes. Here, children are invited to:
- portray your dream or mood that was during the day;
- draw friends, family, yourself, as well as what the child considers in his life the most interesting, important, beloved, magical and mysterious;
- invent, and then depict various shapes of fantastic plants and animals on points, lines and arcs using geometric shapes, as well as come up with their names.
Children's drawing has been of interest to researchers for more than a century. The image made by the child is carefully studied by representatives of various sciences. Art historians strive to find the sources of creativity in it. Psychologists make attempts to look into the peculiar inner world of a small person. Teachers on children's images are looking for the best ways to transfer knowledge that would contribute to the comprehensive development of the individual.
What is painting? First of all, it is the most affordable means of self-expression. Children depict on paper what they think, putting in their picture their attitude to the world around them. Thus, drawing can be considered not only fun, but also a creative work that connects muscular-tangible, motor and visual analyzers. In addition, such activities develop attention and speech, memory and fine motor skills. They teach the child to analyze and think, compare and measure. At the same time, imagination develops remarkably in childhood, and creativity brings joy to the baby.
And it all starts with the usual astrakhan fur. Their baby puts on paper, manipulating pencils in imitation of the actions of adults. A little later, the child's movements become more diverse and accurate. He begins to recognize the function of pencils.
After the role of imagination in the creativity of the baby increases, he begins to depict the objects he invented. A little later, thanks to the influence of adults, images of cars and flowers, trees and houses begin to appear on paper. Imagination and creativity of children move to a new level. Children move away from the patterns and begin to portray what is especially interesting to them. These can be objects of the fantasy world (princesses, fairies, sorcerers, etc.), as well as objects from real life.
It is worth noting that the qualities that the imagination possesses, namely, originality and brightness, stability, breadth and arbitrariness, do not arise at all spontaneously. They are formed under the condition of constant influence on the child by adults. Such work on the development of children's imagination and creativity should be aimed at enriching and clarifying the child's perception of the world around him. Adults should not impose ready-made themes on children. They need to help the baby get acquainted with reality, which will help develop the ability to operate with images to create new ideas.
Through the use of various types of imagination, imagination and creativity by school age should reach a new level. During this period, the child needs to be distinguished by the presence of such mental formations as reflection, internal planning of actions and arbitrariness. Thanks to these qualities, a new kind of imagination arises in children - the arbitrary creation of new ideas with the simultaneous presence of creative processing of existing ideas.
Gaining life experience
The development of the baby’s imagination, and, consequently, of his creative activity, will be helped by a rich palette of experiences he experiences. And for this, adults need:
- give the child to try new flavors and tastes;
- diversify his tactile sensations;
- to go to museums, performances and concerts with the baby;
- travel;
- to go on the nature;
- play on any improvised instruments (spoons, pans, etc.).
Reading
Adult stories about adventures and distant lands, about people's lives, etc. will also help the development of imagination. When a child listens to the reading of parents or educators, he begins to fantasize, imagining portraits of the heroes of the book, the plot of the story, the country where the events are described, and enriches his own stock of images and words.
In addition to listening to fairy tales and stories, the child must be given the opportunity to compose stories himself. The kid must learn to create his characters and invent stories. And if at the same time he becomes the protagonist of such stories, then this will certainly strengthen the sense of self-worth.
Games
This is one of the best activities of children, contributing to the development of creative imagination. Games can be different, but especially adults should encourage them when the child uses fictional characters as the main characters. It could be, for example, a knight or a wizard. Such a hero will allow the baby to feel powerful and strong, while realizing that he can be what he wants. Such games, among other things, perfectly develop self-discipline. After all, the rules are invented by the child himself, who then strictly follows them.
When creating and playing fictional situations, kids learn to think creatively and begin to solve problems. Numerous studies have proved that children with a rich imagination, as they grow up, always find ideas that allow them to cope with unforeseen circumstances, find a way out of a difficult situation and be creative in solving assigned tasks.