Developing imagination and creativity through reading
Posted: March 13, 2019 Filed under: Books, Children's Books, Growing Bookworms, Reading | Tags: Children's Books, Creativity, Developing Creativity, Growing Bookworms, Reading, Writing to be Read 33 Comments
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Einstein
It takes imagination and creativity to make the leaps of logic, faith and inspiration necessary for new inventions and technological development. As the human race stands on the brink of the digital revolution which is already changing the way we live, work and relate to each other, we need to empower our children with the skills they need to cope with an increasingly faster paced and continuously changing world. The development of critical thinking skills and creative problem solving abilities are essential in order for our children to thrive and excel in the work places of the future.
How do we go about instilling these vital skills in our children?
Creative and imaginative play is an excellent way of developing “out of the box” thinking skills in children. Another important way of developing imagination and creativity is reading.
Reading books and hearing stories stimulate a child’s imagination through the adventure, characters and illustrations. Books introduce children to new ideas, experiences, concepts and behaviours that they may not encounter in their own lives. Encouraging children to read a wide variety of genres of books, including fantasy, non-fiction, comedy, poetry and historical fiction, opens up their minds, allowing them to explore new information, emotions and cultures and lead to greater understanding and empathy.
Reading forces a child to use critical thinking skills and logic to process what is being read and understand the concepts and ideas contained in the book. While you read, you create images, thoughts and opinions in your mind.
Reading is exercise for the brain, the more you read the better your concentration will be and the better you will be able to think in a clear and concise way. Reading completely absorbs the mind as it takes effort to read the words, comprehend what is being said and to analyse the deeper meaning and why the author has written about a particular subject in a specific way.
Reading aloud empowers children with better vocabularies, sentence structure and communication skills, enabling them to share their imaginative and creative ideas better.
It is the ability of human beings to be imaginative and creative, to experience great emotion and passion and to invoke these same feelings in others, that ensures we will never become “robotised”. People who have these characteristics will always be valuable to our society and that is what we all strive for, to raise children that will add value to society and, by doing so, lead happy and fulfilled lives.
About Robbie Cheadle
Hello, my name is Robbie, short for Roberta. I am an author with five published children’s picture books in the Sir Chocolate books series for children aged 2 to 9 years old (co-authored with my son, Michael Cheadle), one published middle grade book in the Silly Willy series and one published preteen/young adult fictionalised biography about my mother’s life as a young girl growing up in an English town in Suffolk during World War II called While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with my mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton). All of my children’s book are written under Robbie Cheadle and are published by TSL Publications.
I have recently branched into adult horror and supernatural writing and, in order to clearly differential my children’s books from my adult writing, I plan to publish these books under Roberta Eaton Cheadle. I have two short stories in the horror/supernatural genre included in Dark Visions, a collection of 34 short stories by 27 different authors and edited by award winning author, Dan Alatorre. These short stories are published under Robbie Cheadle.
I have recently published a book of poetry called Open a new door, with fellow South African poet, Kim Blades.
Find Robbie Cheadle
Blog: https://bakeandwrite.co.za/
Blog: robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com
Goodreads: Robbie Cheadle – Goodreads
Twitter: BakeandWrite
Instagram: Robbie Cheadle – Instagram
Facebook: Sir Chocolate Books
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Writing to be Read 
Reblogged this on Robbie's inspiration and commented:
I am over at Writing to be read today with a post about developing imagination and creativity through reading. These are vital skills for our children as we enter the digital age.
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You certainly know how to Foster creativity Robbie!
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Thank you, Ritu. I work at fostering creativity in kids 🤗
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😍
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Beautifully done Robbie. Reading does indeed foster both concentration and knowledge. It emerges you in lives far removed from your every day and inspires dreams and imagination.
Mixed with healthy out door experiences you get a child/ adult who longs to learn more.
To travel, to experience … and maybe write. 😊 .
miriam
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Absolutely, Miriam. There is no greater gift we can give our children.
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Definitely with you Robbie.. children are our future, particularly as the next generation of writers and deserve the opportunity to grow and develop with a vivid imagination and creativity..
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Thank you, Sally. There are so many wonderful learning opportunities available to people with children if the just embrace it.
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I absolutely agree. It isn’t always easy to convince those kids who don’t come by it naturally but there are ways. Yours–writing a book with your son that includes cooking and eating–is both creative and effective!
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Thank you, Jacqui. There are so many amazing books for children now with pop ups and things to make and interesting facts. Children whose parents buy them books have a wonderful advantage.
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I cannot imagine how dull and lifeless the world would be with OUT being able to read!
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Neither can I, Annette. My whole childhood revolved around books. I read everywhere, in the car, on the beach, while walking. Now my boys both read and I feel I have managed to accomplish something wonderful in my life.
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[…] via Developing imagination and creativity through reading […]
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Thank you, Ann
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Excellent post, Robbie. Creative kids become creative adults.
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Thank you, John. I do believe that is true and creativity does make the world go round, or expand its boundaries in any event.
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😊
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This is so true! As I said to a group of students last week, reading and writing skills are needed in all jobs today. The computer age has made it compulsory to be able to read and write at a high level. It all starts with reading, the sooner the better. Well put my friend.
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Thank you, Darlene. In the future, those that can’t read and write will be unemployable. It is already happening.
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Reblogged this on Waterstone Way and commented:
Important reasons for children of all ages to read.
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Thank you for sharing, Ashlynn
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Wonderful post, Robbie! ❤ Sharing…
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Thank you, Bette. I am so glad you enjoyed it.
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Reblogged this on Thoughts by Mello-Elo.
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Thank you for sharing, Eloise.
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Great post, as always, Robbie.
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I agree with you one hundred percent. 🙂
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Thank you, Balroop
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This is an interesting perspective. I think it’s vital for anyone to read for enjoyment. And I think it’s important to remember that some children will grow up to use their hands to work.
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Sadly, Tandy, I do not believe there will be many jobs like that in the future. I think technicians will be replaced by robots and manual labour is already a thing of the past in progressive economies like Australian. They can run a mine with four people, it is the same for farms.
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Countless benefits to reading – excellent post, Robbie!
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Thank you, Teri. I agree.
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