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Learning Tip: Happy as Kings

By Susan Dichter

"The world," Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote, "is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings." The short verse reminds children of what Stevenson's own childhood had taught him. Often sick and confined to his bed, Stevenson discovered that he ruled over the world of his own imagination. What creatures and places and happy times he found there!

Help your child to make the same discovery. To open up his imagination, try this mind stretcher:

Pretend that the objects that are around you are alive and have begun to talk. What kind of life does his rubber duck lead? How does that box of crayons feel? What does your child's teddy bear do when he is left alone in the dark? Encourage your child to act out different roles, seeing the world from the point of view of a red crayon, his rubber duck, or perhaps his own blanket. Soon his world will be as alive as Stevenson's, and filled with stories to tell.

 

Susan Dichter wears many hats—mother, writer, former teacher, museum director, and librarian; her books include Teachers: Straight Talk From The Trenches.