Things Children Know: Imagination and Play

By Clayton R. Conder

There are rules about the world that many people seem to have forgotten. No more do we remember to always keep the closet door shut at night or to never look back down the basement stairs once starting up them. In childhood, an understanding of these rules comes naturally through imagination and play, but most of us leave these behind as we enter adulthood. Perhaps there are cultural reasons why, or perhaps some could cite St. Paul, stating that we must give up “childish ways.”^[1] But are imagination and play childish? It is reasonable that the things enriching to childhood could also enrich adulthood if permitted to flourish into maturity. If we are to accept that imagination and play are crucial in the development of a childhood worldview, then the foundations of our own adult beliefs may benefit from such agents as well. What, then, are the things that children know but adults have forgotten?