A child and their Imagination?

I'm going to ask the younger generation on this site a question...20ish and under for I know you all grew up with gameboys etc...and now more advanced technology so forgive me for the little I know about this but...Do you know how to go outside and play..just using your own imagination?

I took my four eldest grandchilden to the Moscow Circus today...the two oldest seemed bored and wanted to go home to play on their Ds's...something like that...the next one wanted to watch a cartoon on TV....these three are adopted by my son....the little one..not quite 2 had an absolute ball..maybe because I've had a cetain amount of influence in his life from day one....he runs up and down the garden with a broom as a horse for example, I don't watch much TV so...neither does he so...if you didn't have technology when you were growing up can you imagine what you would have done to replace it?...Did you?

Good topic Hellon. I'm 21. Too be honest, this topic really bothers me because I cant stand watching this younger generation worsen. Relying on movies and gameboys and xbox and ipods.

When I was younger, I had the best imagination. I played "spy kids" on my trampoline we pretended to fight bad kids, we played house in my fort outside, hide and seek, barbies, cops and robbers. I played hotel, where we pretended to check people in and clean rooms. I played school , I played church. I loved it...

I'm a full time nanny to a 2 and 4 yr old. They are movieaholics already, which nothing wrong with that. A movie here and there is fine, Disney is awesome!...but they could always watch movies if I let them. Which I don't. She has a DS (gameboy thingy) but she only gets it a couple times a week. Its a privledge to play it. We play hide and seek, barbies, color, etc. Stuff I did when I was little.

It saddens me to see parents who use tv's as babysitters or don't put a time limit on using an ipod or gameboy. I think this generation is getting rude. To be in the presence of family or guests and they are on electronics. My family does it and it annoys me. I see no point in getting together if you're just going to play games and be on facebook all night.

So to answer your question haha sorry I rambled, I know how to play pretend and I love(d) it! I will make sure my kids do so as well .

THANK YOU Chels!....I'm actually looking at my kids partners who are constantly on the phones and wondering WTF...you have your own kids here now...GET OFF YOUR FRIGGING PHONE..my two are not so bad...although they both have facebook I know but....they never had the TV on...I PLAYED with them....we went on adventures....it was so much fun just packing a bag to go to the end of the garden....you know...climb a tree that has bark...you might fall out and get bruised but....it was real and you learned not to do it again...there was no score for reach the highest branch for example...Jeezz...I worry about kids now....Sorry...probably sound ancient....I know!

I'm worried too. If parents don't step up this world is gonna be terrible to live in. Because see, its not the kids fault. They do what they are taught. If they are taught its ok to watch movies all day, taught that they can bring their ipod everywhere, they know no difference. Which is pathetic. I say don't have kids if you don't have time for them or don't now how to spend time with them properly.

I tell ya one thing that's annoying me right now too, as a lot of you know our Presidential election is coming up again. One of the candidates (Romney) said he wants to eliminate PBS ( a government funded channel that televises shows like sesame street)....now people are seriously freaking out and calling him an idiot for removing an education channel....I think they are idiots. We are 16 trillion in debt and he's cutting unnecessary budgets. Shut off your fricken tv and stop relying on Big bird and Elmo to teach your kids 123's and abc's and shapes.....( please no one turn this into political, i am still staying on topic)

It just bothers me to see how people are insulted to remove a tv show. Big fricken deal, its good for the kids to get less tv and more time with their parents, but its not like that anymore. I see people all the time trying to buy educational electronics and DVD's that teach things...again, not bad. But I have witnessed a number of parents pop in the movie and let their child watch it alone. Or give them the game and let them play alone...there is no one on one , no help from the parents to encourage and assist the kids in learning.

It seriously makes me so sad.

Even I remember Seseme Street...Ok...I was probably watching it with my kids but...they are educational....(The guy who voiced over the count died recently...did you know) anyway...educational is ok...Playschool etc....it teaches them I know...teaches me sometimes haha! but...so many people stick their kids in front of a tv rather than let them got outside and play.....that's my worry...

^ that's what I mean :( I'm all for educational shows and toys for that matter, but I just don't see one on one time anymore. The kids are left to learn alone, parents walk away and get things done...which like I said, isn't ALWAYS bad....but it happens more than it should. And to get your child hooked on electronics when they are young is what gets them hooked when they get older. Which is what makes them rude in my opinion to be on them at family events and churches and parties. I can't stand it. Never ending cycle, because then those people teach it to their kids since that is what they were taught.

Chels...do you know what a pogo stick is? or a..bugger what's the name for the toy that...well it looked like saturn..ball in the middle and a round surface that your put your feet on and...jumped..if you could lol!!

Getting hooked on electronics isnt bad. Most of the brain development occurs before the age of 5. That is when one can provide their child with curiosity to explore technology. Those children could grow up to be programmers, web designers, Administrators, inventors may be.

Although, there should be a limit set on time which parents allot to their children with gadgets. Teenagers constantly rambling on the phone cannot be used as an excuse to halt progress. It is the fault of the generation that its busy partying and gossiping. Smart individuals know their limits and can resist social temptations.

Edit - And about cartoons. Children should be permitted 20-30 minutes a day to watch cartoons. Certain cartoons educate children in discipline courses. But there are cartoon that can help children develop better morality. I grew up watching super hero cartoons. It projected a good message. There will always be people on the bad side and the good side. The battle for good must be continued at all times despite losing comrades, family, friends. Power is not to be misused. It should be invested to the greater good of the mankind.

^ yeah exactly there should be a time limit! If there isn't thats when it becomes an addiction and there is no more learning, there is no "curiosity", they are just simply addicted...which stays in teenage years and into adult years, hence a rude generation haha!

Hellon, I know what a pogo stick is.....f those things. I never did last longer than 4 seconds haha!

^ I will agree. It can become an addiction. But it is for the parents to see that their children arent addicted. We are helpless as far as others methods, for raising their children are concerned. You can only speak for so long, until you realize it is being projected onward deaf receptors.

I know, this world is something I don't want my unborns to grow up in. as a matter of fact its something I myself don't wanna be in

people don't get together anymore, no one enjoys the moment, everything has to go on facebook..

that's why when I'm with little felishah I try to teach her music atleast, and all the toys I buy her a are musical too...

I am so sick and tired of how lazy kids are nowadays, how they only want to watch tv, you have 9 year old walking around with blackberries like seriously who are you gonna pin Dora?

when I was a kid, omg.... mud pancakes, polly pocket, barbies, coloring, bible classes, beach days

my cousin comes here with felishah and she is so lost in her blackberry she doesn't even pay attention to the kid

MOTHERS SHOULD NOT HAVE SMART PHONES OMG STOP

I grew up when nintendo was getting big and all that, but my family didnt have alot of tech, we had one tv, and it was ALWAYS on the news, I may have watched a few cartoons when I went to my friends house. I played outside alot, and worked on things, like my friends bikes, or helped my uncle work on his project car, he let me do small things. I got my first gameboy when I was like 15, and it was AMAZING to me, but it didnt control my life. all my friends are really into their gadgets and video games, I have an xbox now, but I rarly play it, I do love my smart phone, no lie,I would be lost without it! lol

I'm 24 and I had a huge imagination when I was little...K lovdd playing with my polly pockets...and I had a pogo stick too.
I loved creating my own games even though we had tv and gameboys...
My 9 and 11 year old nephews are constant on there phones, Ds's...and XBox.

At work we have the laptop for the children to use to play games as it is part of the curriculum but one child tried to make it work by touching the screen...what with all this new technology they forget how to actually be kids

I did not grow up in a rich family, so we did not always had the new things once they came out, but once we managed to afford it and even then we were meant to share. I have 2 older borthers and 1 younger sis, so we obviously couldn't play all at once, at first when it was new, we'd probably play things like super nintendo more often than usually, but we'd never forget about our other toys. My brothers have a year difference so they always played together, although they'd fight more than my sis and me(never knew why), but even if they wouldn't play together, they'd go outside and meet friends.

Same for my sis and me, we had lego, barbie etc, we did have lots of things to play with apart from technologies, because we learnt early enough not to break things as we can't afford buying something new and even before we had such things as barbies we'd go outside. I so loved playing outside, playing family, "cooking" (with leaves or whatever you could find, was so nice). Even later I would still go out and play football with my older brother and friends.

My parents never said you may only watch 30 minutes tv a day, simply because it wasn't ever a problem.. we found other things to entertain us with. Also, to improve our reading, my mum would say that we'd read to her for 20 minutes a day, when I first got into school. I was free to chose the book and she'd listen, correct me when needed.
I am still in love with reading and I actually need to have the book in my hand, rather than e-books, can't stand that.

Okay, sorry for rambling on :)

I agree with you about the book thing Jenni...There is something special about the actually feel of the paper in your hand...

Oh, I really love this topic.

I grew up in a non-caring family. My mother passed away before I was 1 year old so I never knew what it's like to be told a story before sleep. Dad had brought me all kinds of toys, amusements, e-somethings but they sure as hell weren't enough. Well, I loved those puzzles games, barbies, letters teaching tablets, gym and ballet classes. And my grandparents had some really nice neighbors whose children had spent time with me more than dad, we would cook together, share our toys and all. It was fun. Then my stepmother brought me a sister who was the most amusing teddy bear ever!

So yup, story of my life.

I agree. Kids shouldn't use technology in that extreme manner as I did. I still prefer holding a book than reading online but it's difficult, I still covet dirtying myself with mud or whatever without someone reproving me for ruining my dress and I still dream of those cosy nights when family is all together and ...ugh. I am working on changing all of this and it ain't easy, that's why I won't let my kids alone in front of the tv in the future, I will watch what they're watching and share them everything...

Someone please ask me to shut up before I go totally random now. Haha.

I think about this topic ever day because I am always surrounded by kids.

My most favorite memories of being a kid are playing outside with my friends until it became dark and then persuading my mom to go down and play again. We were so creative with our playing. We didn't have a basketball court or basket so we took an empty shopping cart and used it as a basket and our ball was a $1 big bouncy ball.

I worry about the upcoming generations because they don't know how to play without any technology..

I'm curious? what is a Ds ?

I believe Nintendo DS, Andrea.

I am not under 20 obviously, but will like to share a few things. Had no TV and only a few electronic type-games in the town I grew up until senior year in HS. First computer (IBM dos 3.2 version...you will laugh at this one, a pre-windows era) when graduating from Prof school....took heck out of me to type in my research paper, learnt keyboarding on it...still not good at it.
So no electronic games whatsoever, other than an electric train, a remote control car or small stuff when I was in the 7th grade.
Major hobbies as a teen: outdoor sports - badminton, tennis, table tennis, cricket, soccer,etc.....burnt myself out each day that homework was not much.
EDIT: Forgot local sports- kite flying, marbles, Gilli-danda (Tipcat in English, alak-doulak in Persian),
Din't miss any Nintendo or such, not even when they arrived. Though I am good at computers, etc now, I have resisted a smartphone for years....just recently bought an ipad a year ago...but only use it when travelling or at home. Still not crazy about texting or looking at tiny screens....too distracting. Love bigger computer screens though when working or researching Google or other stuff.
Son, is growing up same way, limited TV time, no smartphone yet (though peer pressure is growing), enjoy outdoor life, person-to-person communication, school, and sports. No Nintendo, no pressure either. Does play games on computer/ipad when bored/alone.

Oh thank you!!!
I'm not current on all the fancy gaming stuff and tech gadgets!

I made mud pies as a kid, so did my children, and my grandsons are digging in the dirt kids... gadgets are fun... but an active outside child is in my opinion allot healthier.

The answers, so far, have been very interesting and...I'm glad to see that the majority still know how to use their imagination....that's great.

One of my favourite games was playing fish and chip shops. The chips were made of dirt and the vinegar came from a puddle (well it rained a lot in Scotland and there was always one around haha)...the money to pay...glass!...different colours determined the value and what change was given so....really we were learning to count without even thinking about it.

We also put on a lot of little 'plays'where we all danced, sang etc and the neighbours would lean out their windows and throw us pennies....guess none of the community had anything really but...we had everything when I think back....yeah...I know...sounding like an old fart now....finished haha!!!

Each generation moves forward on its own patterns of necessities. "when we were young we made mud pies". yes, and when you grew up your job was to make apple pies if you a woman. A man "played at baseball and competitive sports. When he grew he competed in the industrial world.
Flash ahead in time. I-phones, TV games, Computer games. All speed mentally challenging. Quickness counts. Ability to make quick decisions. Calculating complicated problems outcomes. Estimating now is precision no guessing games anymore.

Young lion cubs play with each other for hunting skills to use in life as they grow because that's all they will ever need.. Humans too must play at killing games to progress with skills to survive. Today is more at tune with brain power then physical. It is the brain used that will survive. Kids are merely an evolutionary vehicle in the expansion of mans conquest to what ever man is capable. Seemingly endless in natural of what man is.

It seems the older we get the more conservative our willing to expand becomes so we justify our (like the cubs do) our play at killing to survive becomes. Unwilling to see past what is lay's ahead of what we really are.

We have developed better foods and better simpler way to keep the body well being. Kids know this and can indulge what is the importance now in life for its future i.e. as much computer games as possible, as we the elders sulk in our excuses for being ignorant.

Today it is the computer whiz who is the inventor. The old guy on the bench in the park, the self proclaimed referee.

I'm really not quite sure what to make of your post here Donald so...I'll start with the sexist part...

yes, and when you grew up your job was to make apple pies if you a woman.

^^^Collywobbles...I have never baked an apple pie in my whole live...

Yes...animals will never need technology to survive although...sadly some of them, as test dummies do right now but..in the wild no...not for the moment.

We have developed better food?...can you give me an example of better food that we have now? We can preserve it much longer that makes it worse IMO?

When I was 4/5 yrs old, we had an OOOOLLLDDD TV set, and I used to watch Mexican series, lol, nowadays I laugh at myself for doing that. I guess it wasn't an addiction. It was just a habit because almost every home used to watch it everyday.

But... I still remember the running... the dirt... marbles.. sliding down bushy tree branches and getting skin rash.. setting camp fires down the hill near my house and then getting beaten by my father for this... collecting food leftovers from our bridge and going out with other neighbors on picnics.. swinging on rope-like branches from forest-like trees near my house, those that Tarzan swings on... playing with balloons filled with water and throwing them from rooftops lol... sliding down asphalt slopes using pieces of aluminum which we collected from the garbage of the aluminum shop near my house... bicycle riding..

Oh... I could go on forever. I played a lot below 9 years of age.

And at 10, my life changed drastically when we bought a new TV set. There came Disney and Cartoon network. I was literally addicted. And I gained too much pounds.... since then I became fat. I really wish we didn't have a TV.... and what's worse is that my parents never made any limits. I sat face-to-face with the TV for so many hours and without parental guidance at all.

Technology can ruin lives easily, yes!

But... I had my lion share of imagination 10 years ago. So that's not bad. Today also, I'm somehow addicted to the internet because of PnQ... But now, I'm noticing a change. I'm not too much on in here, and I won't be because of university. I know it's for my own sake.

-- Forgot! That's an interesting thread!:)

Hellllon why is it you always take things as negatives. If you gather all what I write its obvious I was emphatically pointing to what is childhood nature that has depending on time element what little games are as they are played out in child physic. There was a time when little girls played grown up mommy games which were parallel training for real life access to what is. In no way was that a "sexist" confrontation. If it were then I suppose I hurt the feelings of little lion cubs and the men who had played at sports when they were young.
Also as you observe reality you'll see that everything in life no-matter the observation from the peanut gallery as to child play (play). From the peanut gallery it is immediate but for practicality we as animals are self sufficient and we as does every living thing mimic what is to be our destinies.

Sexist indeed. eessshhh

Donald....If you read the very start of my reply to you, you will see that I said I wasn't sure how to take your post...could be you were joking I wasn't really sure.

Yes, I played mud pies as a child...I also played with baby dolls but...that didn't mean it was a roll I would automatically play as an adult without looking at alternatives which were also open to me. Your comment seemed to imply that girls grew up to be stay at home mommys because that's where their place was while young lions grew up to be men and went into the workforce to earn the bread and butter to keep their wives at home. I just thought it a tad neanderthal in this day and age is all.....it wasn't meant to be negitive.

It seems kids today are being accused of what is perceived to be from adults and not in comparison as to what an adult now was then when they were youngsters. Each generation is a singular event in the moment's evolutionary progress. When I was young most boys played at Army games. With our home made weapons we defeated, Nazis, Imperial Nippon's. All due for the purpose of preparing for perceived future engagements do to what is ingrained. Although could be argued remains. Therefore when discussing imagination childhood it is outside realms that determine human behavior. Enter theorem, each generation is what is needed. My generation was domestic in nature. Girls played mommy games and school teacher games as because that was their calling in life Majority at the time. Not to say individuals but to the majority. Manufactures sold more dolls and make believe kitchen items then test tubes and or scientific apparatus in miniature. All was for the time element involved. So too were little boys. Vs. today's time evolving. Kids today need not dolls and army rifles but the need of faster moving brain stimuli and that is the forms of computer games...the faster the better. Little kids don't want to climb high in a tree to sit and pretend in a tree fort but do find solace in playing at what is their futures not ours.
We as the self proclaimed know alls inject what we perceive as right from wrong and then ask "when I was young I walked to school in 7 feet of snow 5 miles, how come my kids don't want to do that?"
Simple answer; they don't have to.
To say today kids have no imagination is maybe because we don't comprehend what is in today's imaginations.

I'm sorry if it appears that I've zoomed in on this part and...once again...will appear negative but...both of my children were brought up in Scotland...Ididn't have the money for a car so...in good weather...one was in the pram and the other walked...in bad weather I took a sledge out....both were in it...only the oldest was at the age to go to school but...she never missed a day...so...yeah...my kids didn't really have a choice them...like I said...I couldn't afford a car!!..yet...she had to attend school.

Kids today need not dolls and army rifles but the need of faster moving brain stimuli and that is the forms of computer games...the faster the better

^^^^

Im arguing this too...No they don't...It's a copout for the parents who are too damn lazy to play with their kids...

To say today kids have no imagination is maybe because we don't comprehend what is in today's imaginations

^^

And this...

Ok you speak of having makeshift guns and beating the Japs and...whoever was the bad guy on any particular day...that was reality of sorts (imagination definately)...when you get a 6 year old crying because Super Mario killed him....I think you have a major problem?

Cute Hellon :P let me help you out, Super Mario does not kill the player, but is played by them. He's the good guy.

Lol Jen xp

Thanks for the correction Jenni but...I think you get the point....

I definately did.. sorry though. You do not sound too happy about the correction with all those dots, so will stop.

Edit...sorry my mind is elsewhere tonight..my bad...forgive me?

I'm more focused tonight so...about the dots...I use them all the time...what did you mean Jenni?

I bought a couple of Hoby horses today...anyone remember them? Got the idea from my grandson riding the broom....LOL...haven't seen them in years :)

...
Dots called ellipsis are used to and in place of side thoughts, trailing off in thought, in place for wording, spacing thought all in conversation. Although can be annoying when overused they do serve a purpose used by even the worlds most astute writers...Shakespeare., computer use such as--- new... open ... print ...save as... to name a couple...
Have a zillion uses in creative writing patterns.emotions.
I use them also. Sometimes just to aggravate but mostly because processor refuses to keep spaces between words.
perfectly legal.

Thanks for that Donald....I keep forgetting what they're actually called haha!!!

I've also heard (on here I think) that using more than three in between each thought is a big no no but..honestly...I don't count them..not consciously anyway.