Encouraging Creativity: Why Imagination Matters

By S. S. Coulter

Encouraging Creativity: Why Imagination Matters

An Exploration of Imagination (Part 2)

Are you creative? If you answered no, let me stop you right there – you are! Everyone is creative because everyone uses his or her imagination. In fact, you cannot get through a single day without it.

Let’s do a quick experiment.

I’m going to type the word “DOG”... What popped into your mind?

Now, let’s try “BROWN DOG”... Did the mental picture change?

What I’m certain of is that you didn’t just see the letters “D-O-G” in your mind. Instead, you pictured some sort of dog – maybe even one from your memories – and then that picture shifted into a brown dog.

Guess what? You just used your imagination!

What Is Imagination, Really?

Imagination is the process or power of forming a mental image of something not real or present (such as a future endeavor or past vacation). It is the ability to see with the mind what you cannot see with the eyes. It creates the pictures in your mind that help you remember, read, plan, and create. (See A Healthy Imagination: More Than We Give It Credit For for more on this.)

Yet, many people think imagination is just for kids – or that it’s nothing more than fantasy. But that’s a big misconception.

Fantasy is fictional and not based on validating evidence. Imagination, however, is real:

  • It’s visualizing how you get to the store as you give someone directions.
  • It’s picturing where you were when you got engaged.
  • It’s seeing yourself leading your team to victory.

Imagination helps us recall important information, remember the past, and create a vision for the future. In fact, you can’t have a vision for your future without your imagination. (Check out The Power of Imagination by Andrew Womack.)

Imagination is the first step in doing. Anyone who has participated in a brainstorming session has used imagination. Anyone who has pictured how an organ functions when taking a biology exam has used imagination. Ever thought about how you’ll get through a difficult conversation before having it? Yep, that’s imagination too.

So why does this matter? Because imagination isn’t some “fluffy” skill – it’s foundational to success. And yet, we’re raising kids in a world that actively chips away at their ability to imagine.

Screens, hyper-structured schedules, as well as a heavy focus on test scores over creativity are all working against our kids. We need to make a conscious effort to encourage their imagination – not just for their childhood, but for their future.

Sir Ken Robinson and the Misconceptions About Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson defined creativity as the process of having original ideas that have value.

In his speech, Schools Kill Creativity, he said, “Some of the most creative people in the world didn't realize they were during the course of being educated... We have modeled our education systems on the principles and processes and mindsets of industrialism – which sees education as an industrial process. It's focused on producing certain types of people. And some of those people do very well, but most people don't."

The problem is creativity and intelligence have become separated in our culture, as though you can be one or the other. But the truth is, this does a huge disservice to students, businesses, and society as a whole.

Robinson points out three common misconceptions about creativity:

  1. Creativity is about special people.

    Wrong. Everybody has creative capacities – it’s what makes us human beings. We can’t function without them.

  2. Creativity is about certain, special fields like art, music, and architecture.

    Not true. Of course those are creative, but it takes brilliant creativity and imagination to come up with scientific theories, mathematical algorithms, and business innovations.

  3. You either are creative… or you’re not.

    Nope! All of us are creative. Like many things, it’s a skill that can be developed with the right encouragement and practice. Think of it this way – if a physically capable person told you she couldn’t ride a bike, you would most likely assume she was simply never taught, and therefore, just needed a lesson and some practice. That's how creativity works too.

As Robinson concluded, we need to reconnect creativity with intelligence to elevate imagination in schools, workplaces, and beyond.

The Problem With Minimizing Imagination

So many people – especially in our education system – detach imagination from intelligence. They don’t see them as working together, and because schools are so hyper-focused on standardized testing, creativity is being squelched.

What happens? Kids stop thinking outside the box. They stop seeing multiple possibilities and start believing there’s only one right answer.

But the truth is, you can’t innovate, problem-solve, or dream big without imagination.

I could harp on the way education is structured – there’s plenty more to say on this topic that I may dive into later – but for now, I want to ensure we see the importance of imagination and it’s link to success in life:

If you can’t picture it, you can’t do it.

And for kids, imagination is crucial for development – it fuels creativity, problem-solving, and social skills like communication and empathy.

Protecting and Encouraging Imagination in Kids

Now that we’ve established how essential imagination is, it's important to turn our attention to what's stealing it from our kids. Our current education structure is one, but another huge thief is too much screentime. I’ll be going further into this in future posts, but for now, I encourage you to check out:

The good news? We have the power to create environments at home to build the imagination and creativity muscle in our children through simple steps such as encouraging play and fostering curiosity. My activity books and easy-to-do activities are also here to give you a hand!

More on Imagination

For more on the importance of imagination, please see:

Part 1 of my series An Exploration of Imagination: A Healthy Imagination: More Than We Give It Credit For

Sir Ken Robinson’s full speech: Schools Kill Creativity

The Power of Imagination by Andrew Wommack

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