"Playing with my Imagination"

It's amazing to me how children naturally know things that we adults must "discover" and ponder over for years until a light bulb goes off in our heads...I was recently having a discussion with my sister about how our lives have changed and how the girls have been affected by the introduction of Waldorf into our homelife. I told her I noticed that they are much more in tuned with nature. I have also noticed an explosion with their creative play. They were always creative, but it's somehow on a higher level now, if that makes any sense...and I think it will to others who have or are experiencing it.

We still have some plastic toys which are limited in *what* they are/do, but the girls are starting to abandon them on their own in preference of more natural, unlimited toys and even beyond that, playing with their imagination...

This morning, one of my 6 year old daughters (C) announced that she and her sister were done with the plastic animal toys they were playing with so that they could play with their imagination instead. I asked what she meant by that and she responded with,

"We're going upstairs to play the deer game, using our imagination. It's much more fun than playing with toys." (The deer game is a game they made up with their very creative grandmother, in which they are deer. They entirely immerse themselves in this kind of play)...

I asked her why it was more fun to use her imagination and she replied, "The toys are always the same. When we play with our imagination, everything is different and we can create new fun all the time!"

I gave her a hug and told her how proud I was of her that she is so creative and is enjoying her imagination. She happily bounded upstairs, still talking and I heard her exclaim, "I love playing with my imagination! It's like I'm taking off my head and playing with it!"

Then she launched into a song about "imagination" that she made up at the top of her lungs...

Go Steiner! And I am a very satisfied mom indeed :)