{"id":360,"date":"2013-05-09T22:23:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-09T14:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/2013\/05\/09\/princesses-the-forts-the-ingenuity-of-imagination\/"},"modified":"2014-10-03T18:19:49","modified_gmt":"2014-10-03T10:19:49","slug":"princesses-the-forts-the-ingenuity-of-imagination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/2013\/05\/princesses-the-forts-the-ingenuity-of-imagination\/","title":{"rendered":"Princesses & the Forts…The Ingenuity of Imagination…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boundless…Endless…Children sure can teach us a thing or two about Imagination.<\/p>\n

As parents, we sometimes belittle our own abilities and resort to packing the days with this activity or that enrichment to occupy our kids.  In our busy-ness, we forget that we too, are all born with an innate ability to imagine.  We fail to see that indeed the playground of our minds is far more appealing and creative than the array of toys we see everywhere. <\/p>\n

Here is one experience where we were humbled by a ‘junky’ carton box.  Seemingly destined for the junkyard…Instead, throw in a bit of imagination and voila…you are in a different world…and a different era! <\/p>\n

The OSIM Uangel Massage Chair<\/a> we recently reviewed came in a gigantic carton box. When I saw the box, I knew I had to keep it with the intention of recycling it into something fun for this year’s Cardboard Dreams Challenge<\/a> (organised by The Playful Parents<\/a>).  The Daddy came home, saw the box and a light bulb instantly lit up in his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Dana, Our Warrior Princess!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Over the next few evenings, he worked diligently to transform the box into a surprise Play Fort for our Princess (with the help of a common marker, a pair of scissors, some sticky tape and a humble $2 mini saw from the neighbourhood DIY shop).  What’s amazing were the attention to details – the movable draw bridge, the small flag bearing the Princess’ initial, the round peep window, the accompanying sword and shield (all salvaged from the cardboard scraps) for a complete experience. In Daddy’s hands, nothing had gone to waste. <\/p>\n

When Daddy unveiled his creation, Dana’s eyes sparkled and she couldn’t contain her joy!  I heaved a secret sigh of relief that I did not dispose the box (which I would have if I wasn’t a Mom!). Dana was so pleased with this recycled cardboard Fort that she spent many happy afternoons in it – pretend playing and personalising it with her hand-drawn murals. <\/p>\n

On one rare relaxed Sunday where we had no agenda, we brought the Fort down to the garden and invited Dana’s ‘BNF<\/b>‘ – B<\/b>est N<\/b>eighbours F<\/b>orever (a term she coined herself) to come and play. The girls embraced it like a beloved long lost ‘toy’ – giggles reverberated through the air as they explored the Fort and allowed their imagination to transport them to faraway lands…<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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With her royal guests in the Fort…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Ready for some Sparta action?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Battles waged…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Secrets whispered…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Girl Power rocks!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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We were humbled that out of a ‘junky’ cardboard box emerged such a wonderful piece of plaything which gave the kids hours of pure, unadulterated joy. It required no fanciful electronic gadgets (no Ipad, Xbox and TV), just a tiny bit of ingenuity and a large dose of imagination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Come visit our Fort sometime!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
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Love my B.N.Fs – Best Neighbours Forever!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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So the next time you’re tempted to look outward for external stimulation for your children, delve inwards to find that little child in all of us. You’ll be surprised, how much of a friend you can be to your kids and how much they appreciate the opportunity you’ve created for them to play as kids…<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Three Princesses and the Fort…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boundless…Endless…Children sure can teach us a thing or two about Imagination. As parents, we sometimes belittle our own abilities and resort to packing the days with this activity or that enrichment to occupy our kids.  In our busy-ness, we forget that we too, are all born with an innate ability to imagine.  We fail to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,17,75],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59hHF-5O","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifestinymiracles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}