Fantasy or reality: how to help children distinguish
More important than putting your feet on the ground, resorting to "logical" arguments, so that Children learn to distinguish between fantasy and reality, it may be more effective that we participate in their fantasy games. But, as we all know, as they get older it is not so easy to play with them. It is necessary to enter into his fantasy and eat that imaginary ice cream or act as if we were authentic Indians.
5 keys to enter the world of children's fantasy
1. We have to participate, and not be mere spectators of our children's games, to share with them that magical and fantasy world in which they live.
2. To play with them, we will have to put ourselves at their level, which will mean more than once throwing us on the floor, or really buying that plastic fruit.
3. Your playing time must have an unmovable gap in our schedule, turning that time into an intense adventure where there is no time for haste.
4. Instead of directing your games, help them to exercise their freedom and creativity, allowing them to be the protagonists.
5. Enter your world and let yourself be carried away by your childish logic and fantasy, instead of pretending that our son leaves him to accommodate the reality of the elderly.
Keys to help distinguish fantasy from reality
Between 3 and 10 years old, it is normal for our son to show an overflowing imagination and to put it into practice continuously in his games. But sometimes that imagination can have its small drawbacks, and it is at those times when parents must intervene:
1. Take advantage of times when you are not playing to talk with the child about real things (tell how he spends it at school, how his friends are, etc.), without forcing the conversation. When you change the subject and start talking about monsters, follow the flow.
2. To overcome some fears caused by your fantasy, we have to explain the reasons. If you are afraid of the lions, we will explain that they live in Africa and that it is impossible for them to enter our house. Of course, nothing to make fun of them.
3. You can go explaining, little by little, with arguments according to their age, that not everything that appears on television fits reality.
4. It is normal to invent friends or imaginary situations. We should not scold them for it, but slowly make them reflect on the things that exist and those that are the product of their imagination.
5. If you invent amazing stories You can enhance that great creative capacity and encourage them to capture them in drawings, to model their characters, or to make images of something that does not exist, like an imaginary animal, etc.
6. It is necessary to foster a creative climate in the family: It is important that there are good books at home, that children attend a play or that they organize it at home with their brothers or cousins.
7. We must praise and value the creative works of our son, and above all, avoid sarcastic comments or ridicule. Many children stop writing, drawing or playing an instrument as a result of mocking or critical comments from their parents, ending a talent that could have yielded many fruits.
Game to teach to distinguish reality from the imaginary
To teach him to distinguish reality from the imaginary, we can ask him what we could do to enter the house if we do not have keys. First we will help you to propose feasible, real solutions that can be executed ("the aunt has a copy"). Then, we will tell you to use the fantasy to know how to solve the problem ("if it were Superman, it would fly in").
Conchita Requero
Advice: Teresa ArtolaPsychologist
