If you want your kids to have a strong imagination, you have to help them warm up.

If you want your kids to have a strong imagination, you have to help them warm up. Some people assume that you either have imagination or you don't. But as the world's best babysitter, I know that it's more like a muscle that can be strengthened. So let me teach you one of my favourite strengthening exercises for the imagination using the Welly Boredom Box. I love the Welly Boredom Box because it's filled with objects that on their own are intentionally ordinary. But once you add a little bit of imagination, they can become anything you want. Here's how to do the warm up. Look around and grab a random object. It could be a spoon, it could be a rock, it could be a stick. Then you say, this isn't a stick, this is a magic wand. Then you pass it to the next person who might say, this isn't a stick, this is a fishing pole. Or, this isn't a stick, this is a microphone. Or, this isn't a stick, this is a snake. You get the idea. The goal isn't to come up with the best answer, the goal is to get the ideas flowing. Hey, sorry, my pet hedgehog was chewing on the box. Of course, the best imaginative play involves running, jumping, climbing. And sometimes that means you might get a scraped knee. And when that happens, I like to clean it up with Welly's sting free first aid wipes. And then I put on one of their flex fabric bandages that stays in place so they can get right back to playing. Once their imaginations are warmed up, they usually go and play by themselves. So try this imagination warm up with your kids and let me know in the comments what's the craziest thing they came up with. And in the meantime, don't forget to stock up on Welly, okay?