Jami Worries About the Future of Imagination

In the past several day, the topic of Legos has come up in conversation several times. If you're my age, you remember big sets of Legos, sometimes with suggestions of what you could build, pictures of different buildings or vehicles that you could assemble with some of the pieces in the box. Some had those little people with the Lego feet and C-shaped hands. But now Legos come in kits, almost exclusively, with one finished product per set. In fact, a few years ago I was unable to even locate Legos that weren't a specific kit. Don't believe me? Check out their website and try to find a lego set that isn't meant to be just one thing. On one hand, I think that this is neat. My Lego creations were basically randomly colored buildings, usually rectangular in shape and as symmetrical as I could achieve with the blocks I could reach. But what about just building something you create, or figuring out how to make something look like the idea in your head? This is where the problem lies. Our culture increasing does more for our children. They have real playhouses instead of cardboard boxes. The toys are more and more "set" or "done" and allow less room for creating and imagining. If we don't learn to use our imaginations when we're children, when will we? Combine the imagination-less toys with more TV and super-real looking video games, and I wonder if this generation will grow up imaginations at all! I have wondered if this trend, started even with my generation, I'd say, has led to fewer inventions. Or look at the seeming lack of creativity even in Hollywood - how excited do you get when a movie or TV show is truly different than the others that you've seen? Is it because we have really come up with all the ideas that exist or because people are less able to formulate new concepts? My son has an amazing imagination right now, despite his abundance of toys and probably too much TV. I try to find things for him to do that aren't set in stone, and I praise him when he creates toys or games or stories out of nothing. It's not easy, though, and I worry that I'll take the easy way too often, plopping him in front of my old friend television. I worry that the schools will try to conform his uniqueness out of him with set activities and aptitude tests. And I wonder what will happen when his generation is responsible for encouraging the imaginations of their children. Let's keep our kids in that land where all things are possible for as long as we can! My friend who found a set of "just Legos" showed it to her 9-year-old, Lego-freak nephew who had never conceived of such of a thing. The prospect of making "whatever I wanted!" thrilled him. So there's hope for these kids after all.