What if??

“In school, we’re rewarded for having the answer, not for asking a good question.” – Richard Saul Wurman

The Question,What

Now that its sunshine time, Me and my boys are opting to walk more often to school and places nearby. This has opened up a whole new world of conversations, adding to the otherwise non-stop chatter! With occasional references to the beauty of nature, A huge chunk of their conversations are almost always, centered around Legos!!and Lego ninja warriors!! A current favorite, that they just can’t seem to get enough of!! Since I  obviously have no idea about these tiny plastic figures and bricks , I can’t seem to be an active participant in their hot discussions . So, when I’m pulled into one of these exciting conversations, I tend to blurt out insane stuff about the esteemed ninja warriors, much to the amusement of my boys!!!I have a looming doubt that they are secretly glad that mom is finally stumped at something!

Not wanting to miss out on wonderful conversations with the boys (actually due to my ignorance about the brick world)and to direct their mind to thinking beyond the Lego Ninja, I decided it was time to introduce a little game to spark up their creative minds and have a little fun during our walks. I believe creativity always starts with a question, “WHAT“. What is it, that we wish to create or solve? What, is the destination that ignites our creative journey. I knew a plain What was just not enough. I had to add possibilities to see their eyes light up! And so, we started playing the ‘What if’ game.

Its a no brainer. You basically ask each other what if questions and watch your imagination take flight!

“All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning.” — Albert Camus

The What If Game

Me :What if tomorrow all the grass turned purple!!??!!

Big Boy: I need time adjusting to that mom! I’m used to seeing green grass under a blue sky.

Little Boy: Could that really happen?

Me: What if???

Little Boy: All the birds flying in the sky will get confused and come down to explore purple grass.

Big Boy: What if, upon exploring purple grass, birds lose their power to fly??

Me: That’s a whacky possibility!!

Little Boy: Then who will bring down all the baby birds and eggs that are in nests on top of trees?

Big Boy (to little boy) : You are welcome to take up that job!

Little Boy: What if Dragons were real and they spat stars from their mouth?

Me: That would be an amazing sight!

Big Boy: If they agreed, we could use dragons instead of fireworks! Less pollution! What do you say?

Me : I like your way of thinking.

By the end of the walk we had enough content to write a fantasy novel!!!

The what if game caught on like wildfire. The boys started playing it often among themselves and having fun thinking up the most bizarre things they possibly could!!!

Big Boy is busy preparing for an upcoming test, when out of the blue Little boy starts the game

Little Boy: What if you get zero on the test!!??!!

Big Boy: What if I shoot you back in time 65 million years ago right in front of an open mouthed T-Rex !!!???!!!

All I can say is , I should have known!!

You can play the What if game to generate ideas or even teach safety and scenarios to kids. For example, What if you got lost in a crowd? Or What if a stranger offers to drop you home? What if a stranger offers your favorite ice-cream? What if our neighborhood catches fire? What if you accidentally get locked inside a public restroom? It’s a more playful approach to teaching life skills and sparking their creativity. I would love to hear your What if stories in the comments below!

 

 

Featured image courtesy: pixabay

 

 

 

 

Self talk

Of course I talk to myself. Sometimes I need expert advice-Author unknown.

Creative power of inner talk

 

Have you ever seen a young child talking to himself or herself? It is not uncommon to see young children indulge in self talk and Socio-Dramatic play. They could go on and on for hours speaking on behalf of their toys, making up wonderful dialogs and stories. I have often wondered and marveled at this amazing skill which needs no teaching and transports children into a creative world instantly! Self-talk is often dismissed as rubbish by adults and its valuable benefits are overlooked.

In reality Self talk or private speech adds a lot of benefits to Children’s development. Communication and language are obvious, but it goes way beyond that. It has been proven that self-regulation, emotion-regulation, memory, motivation and of course creativity are all linked to self talk. If we  wait for a few minutes in the shadows and listen to the private speech kids engage in, we can pick up many clues as to what their little minds are processing. Most of these dialogs are instructions to self or self-regulation in an imaginary situation. “Hey Spiderman! Don’t go near that huge fire, it will burn you!” at times emotional regulation,”Don’t feel sad Ninja, you can win the battle next time.” It has been proven that self talk also enhances memory and motivation. ” Common Lego Batman! You can do it! Just try a little harder.” Essentially, children are teaching themselves social skills through indulging in self talk. With every new character, setting and story they make up, they’re exercising their creative muscles and increasing their creative skills.

If you are interested to read more about Private speech or Self talk, you can find information here .

Talking Thoughts

As a curious mother, I’ve enjoyed watching my boys create their own world and engage themselves in creative self talk, but as they grew older and started school, I noticed unpleasant language and unkind situations creep into their imaginary world. I knew interrupting them and correcting them would not be a proper approach and I had to find ways to introduce positive self talk which could add benefits to their developing social skills. The most simple, direct and outright way I could come up with to introduce this was to just model it.

If I was cooking with my boys hanging out in the background, I would talk aloud,” Dinner is taking longer than I expected ,but I am going to PERSEVERE because PERSEVERANCE will help me accomplish any task. I just have to break up the task into tiny chunks so it feels EASY.” Or if I am upset with cars in the traffic I think aloud to myself  ,” Having to  wait in traffic is tiring me, but I will divert my mind and listen to MUSIC because MUSIC CALMS MY MIND when I feel upset.” I feel self talk can be used in many more creative ways to decipher information and help with problem solving . Indulging in positive self talk can become a valuable tool for Self-motivation and to achieve goals!

 

Featured image courtesy: pixabay

 

The ancient art of storytelling

Telling stories is not just a way of passing time. It is the way the wisdom gets passed along. The stuff that helps us to live a life worth remembering.

— Rachel Naomi

Remen

Since

From the beginning of time, humans have indulged in the art of story telling. As a way of understanding the world around them.Wide eyed and huddled close to the storyteller, generations of children and adults have been mesmerized and touched deeply by the stories they hear.More than mere entertainment ,it is the single most powerful tool used for influencing, and instilling deep-rooted values and ideas into young minds ,not to forget stimulating their imagination and creativity.

Most families have a grandmother or mother who leads little children into the magical world of stories introducing them to ancient legends ,morals and tradition.Some of the first and earliest lessons about life are imparted through stories.I’ve always felt, however different people may look on the outside and whatever country or culture or religion they may belong to,once you peel the layers, humans are all the same on the inside.They are all driven by the same emotions, mainly Fear and Love and stories capture those emotions in the most powerful way.So whichever part of the world you may belong to one thing that binds people together are the stories they share.

Every family has a different story

Personally I have used story telling in every aspect of raising my boys.The first being,capturing their attention !If I need their attention for anything big or small, a sure way to grab it is by starting a story!” Once upon a time,in a small hamlet far away, there lived two brothers who owned a magical casket that gave them ideas on how to cooperate with each other no matter how impossible it may seem to them….” It has also been a vital part of problem solving and understanding.Sometimes its easier for children to relate to a story and use them as reference points to understand their world.So if something is taking us too long to finish, we pretend to be like the tortoise from the ‘Hare and the Tortoise’ and persevere until we accomplish what we started . Stories are also an important part of our daily bedtime routine, in fact, we enjoy a good story anytime of the day! I have realized that the best way to bond and build a relationship with my children is through the stories we share everyday.Sometimes we share the same stories over and over again!

Storytelling games

Some simple ways we turn our joy of story telling into games that spark our creativity and imagination are,

Continue the story : One person starts writing a story and each person continues the story without looking at what the other person has written and in the end the last person to finish the story reads it out and we share a good laugh!

The story box : We write several topics or one liners on strips of paper and put it in a box.Then each of us picks a paper without looking and makes up a story on the topic and shares their story for 2 mins. 

Making books and comics : I fold few leaves of papers into half and staple them to make little booklets which the boys use to draw and write their own stories or comics.

Puppets: We make simple puppets by drawing our favorite characters ,gluing them onto cardboard and cutting them out and gluing a popsicle stick behind!and Lo ! We have endless hours of fun!

But by far our favorite is always the bedtime story we share huddled together in each others warmth!

So what is your story? Do share your memorable stories in the comments below!