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Imagination
By Kathy Zink

One wonders when the loss of our imagination and the innocence of childhood occurs, how time flies from the years of youth to the days of chaos and responsibility of adult life. No one ever looks back to remember the little things that amazed us so easily until there are tiny eyes that need to know everything around them. This thirst can help guide parents back to places of wonder that were once near and dear to them. Reminiscing, one can flash back in time to their own childhood, reliving dreams once forgotten.
Imagination has always been a part of everybody since birth. The problem is finding it once again. Having the right atmosphere is essential to jogging the memory to work like a television in the mind. A community park can help supply the surroundings to acquire this lost skill. Possibly, seeing a small creek could have young and old on a safari, searching for rare frogs, lizards, and crayfish. How many adults have ruined their sneakers climbing the Alpine Mountains in a small creek as a child? Finding a safe haven among the mighty Redwood Forest while playing a game of hide and seek? Even if the tree is smaller than the person "hiding" behind it, is common to those who chose to see it that way.
Some may even see themselves as gold medallists in the Olympics for long distance jumping. This has been perfected over and over again by swinging higher than anyone else in the park. Some need to practice for weeks to master this skill, skinning knees again and again just to conquer the tears and gain the gold, which could be nothing more than a gold leaf found on the ground.
All adults have responsibilities that give them the feeling of spinning in circles, which never seems to end. From parenting, house cleaning, working a full-time job while going to school part time, to finding time to sleep becomes overwhelming. This is part of everyday life, but being spun on a merry-go-round could be like visiting a different world. Now, instead of being stuck in the insane adult world, there could be a whole new world to explore. By playing with a child in this new land, many can see how the younger mind of a child envisions stories that are told to them.
It could surprise many interested in trying this, but the places visited can be altered by the mood swing of the child playing in the new place. If the child is happy and carefree, the sun will shine and a rainbow in the sky will lead to a pot of gold. If sadness is the swing, expect rain clouds and an unhappy story of a hurt animal that needs help. Watch out for enemy trolls in the woods that need to be hunted down if the child is angry about something. Those are the days that a parent’s imagination can help show that the mean trolls can be fun to play with; besides, trolls are aware of all the best hiding places for another game of hide and seek.
When there is a group of preschoolers playing together, watch and listen to what they are doing. The ideas of the imaginary game are so simple yet so complex. In everyday life we have a boss at work, and in the games being played by the young there is a leader. Socially, at this age, it is also acceptable to have an imaginary friend or two, boss around or to make other kids jealous. Many adults still talk to themselves during daily tasks. Could this be from when they themselves were children?
Instead of reading them a story about "Once upon a time, in a far away land," tell them a memory. Memories can be about times spent at a park or in a neighbor’s yard. The yard would be easy to find. It would be the one with the prize-winning flowerbed with all of the beautiful butterflies fluttering around. Explain what it is like to look up in the sky and watch a plane spell out the word TASTYKAKE, or ice skate in the early winter evenings on a basketball court. All adults have a "secret place" no one else has seen or that invisible friend that would talk only to them. These memories may introduce new ideas for a growing imagination. As adults, most forget that this is a wonderful lesson in creativity to teach the young; in return, they help parents remember the youth they lost.

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