what peter pan said

Experts say that pretend play, besides being so much fun, deserves a central place in children’s lives. Pretend play also helps kids practice social customs. Pretending does wonders for confidence and self-esteem. According to Cagle McDonald it is very powerful when a child is able to get his ideas for play acknowledged by his peers. Kids enjoy pretending so much that they’ll stretch their vocabularies and knowledge to be better at it. At every age and stage, pretend play speeds learning. Advanced intellectual functioning-the ability to think hypothetically, and logically carry out a plan-is an out-growth of pretend play. Imagination keeps kids’ minds sharp, flexible and open to new opportunities. All the people in a child’s life-parents, grandparents, teachers and family friends-have a role on perpetuating the wonder and delight of pretend play. Children really need three thing from us, says Cagle, who has been creativity specialist for children for 12 years: 1. Deep background. 2. Fun props. 3. Real respect. Most child needs our gift of space and time to play.
From The Power to Pretend by Judsen Culbreth, an article from Reader’s Digest, February 2005

Peter Pan once said: think of happy thoughts so you can fly. It didn’t just say think of happy thoughts it also make us imagine happy thoughts and as we imagine happy thoughts we imagine ourselves fly. And it makes us happy. We use our imaginations in making enchantment with the real world like what Paul Harries said, author of The Work of the imagination and a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of education “Imagination is the distinctive ability of human beings”. With our picturing power or act of the mind we construct a creative faculty expressed in terms of images which either reproduce past experiences or help us recombine them in ideal or creative forms. “Its not just fun for kids to use their imaginations – it’s how they grow into smart adaptive adult”. It is us as we grow and learn from our experiences in the complex world.

Fantasy forms representation that brings the mind images serving to fulfill a need not gratified in the real world. It helps us be productive, just like improving props and acting realistic roles in fantasy stories. Although we might be conceived and be fancy because fancy is superficial and imagination is deep, essential and spiritual. But they both help us recombine and modify mental images.

Pretend play is a thought to play with. Just like a movie playing in our minds when we read fiction books. We get pleasure on it and we learn and grow as we and our minds move along the chapters. We must always remember how to switch different worlds from time to time because we have reality principles that make our pleasurable fantasies exist.

As we imagine , we dream. We dream of our future, our desires, we plan. We plan based on what we experienced and learned. Through this we discover more of life and ourselves. We grow and we adapt to our environment-to the fast changing world.