SingaporeMotherhood | Parenting

May 2014

The Imagination Journal

Earlier this year, I wanted to make a gift – instead of buying something – for a friend’s daughter who was celebrating her eighth birthday.

The birthday girl is a dreamy, happy-go-lucky sort. I figured something that would fuel her day-dreaming productively would be perfect. I came up with the idea of giving her ten questions which were absurd enough to be silly, yet doable enough to be interesting.

I looked for a notebook with no lines. It had to be big enough for drawing, yet small enough to be portable. I found the perfect one at Daiso. It’s hardcover, and a picture of animals standing on a circle at the front.

[banner][/banner]

I knew I would have to make one more – for my own daughter. So I bought two books. I printed, cut and pasted the questions on the pages of the book at night. Then I wrapped both journals and presented one to my daughter as a present.

I saw how eager my daughter was to work on the topics on the pages. So I asked a couple of friends if their children enjoy drawing. When they said yes, I bought two more books, did them up, and passed them off as presents.

One of the mothers sent me a photo of her daughter working on the journal and told me that the girl brought it along with her everywhere she went.

The mother has made copies of the journal so that her two sons can work on them too. Another mother told me her daughter treats it like a diary, adding more things to it every day.

I wanted to see how different the children’s imaginations could be, so I borrowed some of the journals. I left positive comments on little pink post-it sheets to encourage the journal owners.

(If you are planning to make one for your child, please refrain from giving him or her any comments or suggestions. You’d be surprised to discover how funny or creative your child can be!)

Now that June school holiday season is approaching, some of the children are asking for more questions. I have came up with ten more to pass off as the sequel, kind of like The Imagination Journal: Part Two.

You’re welcome to print both parts here, cut each question out and paste them on a plain book for your child. Allow more than one page (I a looted four) for each question. Oh, and do use a fun font for the questions!

imag journal

The Imagination Journal questions: Part 1

• Can you believe it? It’s raining marshmallows!

• Imagine sitting on a chair with wings. Watch your head!

• You’ve met a new friend. She’s a monster, cute but hairy!

• It’s the perfect family picnic on the clouds! I hope the birds will not peck on all our bread!

• Living in a 10-storey building filled with playgrounds – It’s even more fun than the Changi Airport!

• Can you invent a new language? What does its alphabet look like?

• Oh no! You have shrunk yourself! You are only as tall as an orange now.

• Your school bus has broken down. But guess what? The school helicopter is still working fine!

• If you could invent a unique uniform for every day of the week, how would you look from Monday to Friday?

• Forget Legoland. What would a -land looks like?

The Imagination Journal questions: Part 2

• Snider, the Snail-Spider and Bish, the Bird-Fish are having a fun day on the beach!

• What would Olaf’s tree-house look like if he had one?

• Let’s write a letter to a new friend who lives in a jungle in Africa. She wants to be your pen-pal.

• How would you swim if there was no gravity?

• Curly Hedgehog and Wispy Porcupine are having a tea party! They are sipping their iced tea daintily.

• I wonder how a mother with triplet babies would shop at the supermarket?

• Wouldn’t it be exciting to ride a double-decker car?

• Draw me a comic strip of your day at school.

• What would feeling “heavenly” look like?

• What would the skyline of -polis look like?

Enjoy!

All content from this article, including images, cannot be reproduced without credits or written permission from SingaporeMotherhood.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram for the latest article and promotion updates.

The Imagination Journal