The unicorn is a mythical horse-like creature with one horn. Many people are fascinated by unicorns. Even though they aren’t real with imagination people have created many ideas around unicorns. For my ‘U’ post for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge I’m writing about unicorns and the importance of imagination.
Unicorns
Unicorns have been referenced for thousands of years and still hold a place in popular culture today.
The Unicorn Song
A song I remember from my childhood is “The Unicorn” song by The Irish Rovers. The original poem was written by Shel Silverstein. It talked about there being lots of animals but the loveliest of all was the unicorn. It goes onto talk about Noah building the ark. However, the unicorns were hiding and playing silly games so they didn’t make it onto the ark. The last chorus is:
You’ll see green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
You’re never gonna see no unicorn
I always thought that it was a pretty cool way to explain why we don’t have unicorns now.
Imagination
You need to use your imagination when thinking about unicorns. The song above is certainly very imaginative. Children are really good at using their imagination. In fact imagination & imaginative play is an important part of child development.
Imaginative Play
Recently we were talking to some parents about their 4 year old who is often very involved in imaginative play. Another person who was there and myself both stressed how imagination is a normal part of child development. This other person starting talking about making houses with cut grass. I remembered sweeping pine needles together to make houses at school with my friends. At home my brother and I would flatten the long grass in the vacant yard next to our house to make rooms to play in. My friend and I were getting so excited in talking about our memories. The father of the 4 year old could really see how we had used our imagination.
My son had an imaginary friend when he was younger. At one stage he also had a number of imaginary brothers. When he was older my son developed a character called “Bob Appletree“, along with his cousins and sister they made a number of videos using lots of imagination.
Benefits of Imaginative Play
There are many benefits of imaginative or pretend play. A novel I’m currently reading has a young girl who has with her someone she calls her “guard”. The psychiatrist explains to the Mum how it can be normal and healthy to have an imaginary friend. Imaginary play helps children make sense of their world and benefits their social, emotional, physical & language development.
What imaginative play did you or your children engage in?