There’s no power like a kid’s imagination (just ask a parent who’s trying to interrupt a game of pretend to get a child to come to the dinner table or brush her teeth!). And when that imagination is channeled into creative problem-solving, magic can happen. Look at the results of a brief session with a third-grade Brownie troop, a copy of Suzy Becker’s write-in journal for kids, The Kids Make It Better Book, and the promise that no idea is too silly or outrageous:
What should we do about all the garbage? Elise, age 9, suggests: “Make a litter machine that can find who littered just by the litter…and make them sit in a garbage can all day.”
How would you fix a broken heart? Avery, age 8, says: “I’d make them swallow love glue.”
What would you do to help countries stop fighting and get along? 8-year old Zoe’s idea: “Astronauts should build a reunion place in outer space big enough for everyone in the entire world, and we could work everything out.”
Will a kid’s imaginative answer to a bad economy really be useful in solving the problem? Maybe not. But is it useful to ask them to think of ideas? You bet! A kid who’s encouraged to think about the world’s problems, and to dream up creative ways to make the world better, has a good chance of growing up to be a person who dreams big and makes a difference. And based on the kids I saw thinking, and dreaming, and solving, I think the future’s looking pretty bright indeed.
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