“Logic will get you from A to B; imagination will take you everywhere.” — Albert Einstein

Imaginative play is important, and kids use their imaginations in different ways in play. Toca Magazine talked to some kids about their imaginations and learned that, while they have a firm grasp of reality (thank goodness zombies are imaginary!), kids have some impressive ideas and enjoy bringing them to life.

What is imagination?

• Harrison, 5: Imagination is where you make something up in your brain.
• Grayson, 7: It’s when you’re pretending to do something but it’s not really happening.
• Sarah, 8: It’s in your head and you think it could really be true but it’s not. Zombies are imagination. Zombie Pig Men are imagination.
• Tristan, 12: It can mean thinking and acting like things that aren’t real, but it can also just mean being original, creative.

How are you creative?

• Harrison, 5: I build race cars with LEGOs, and I build towers with blocks.
• Grayson, 7: I build my own LEGO creations.
• Sarah, 8: I like to draw. Sometimes I like to write stories.
• Tristan, 12: I like to make video games, and I enjoy designing and planning out stuff. I also like writing books.

What do you like to pretend?

• Harrison, 5: I like to pretend that there are things in the world that don’t exist — like that there are monsters and zombies.
• Grayson, 7: About being in the army! I do sword fights.
• Sarah, 8: I pretend I’m a teacher sometimes.
• Tristan, 12: Sometimes I put myself into scenarios, like imagining about what I would do if this happened. I like playing games that have a story to them.

What do you like to make?

• Harrison, 5: Airplanes, buildings, people out of LEGOs.
• Grayson, 7: LEGO creations! I make ships, cars, castles.
• Sarah, 8: I make the cover for books I write.
• Tristan, 12: Video games, books, comic strips. I used to make stop-motion animation videos. Really, anything!

If you had two toilet paper tubes, what would you do with them?

• Harrison, 5: I’d make a trophy.
• Grayson, 7: Binoculars!
• Sarah, 8: I would re-use them to make art. I would cut one and make it flat, and then I’d cut the other and make things out of it to glue onto the flat one.
• Tristan, 12: A pipe system with water flowing through or a projector with a flashlight inside the tubes.