Imagination and the Construction of Children's Meaning World

Miao Xuehong (Nantong University,China)

Abstract

Imagination is a kind of ability to show the whole activities of the mind through intentionality. It is a precious heritage of human evolution and an advanced form of instinct. Children are good at imagining than adults.

With the development of brain, children's mental activities become more and more active. Due to the lack of the ability to control the external world, infants are almost in a state of spiritual introversion, that is, children are completely in a state of internal subjective intentionality. They construct the meaning world through imagination with body feeling as the center. Children's innate imagination helps children maintain the rapid development of the spiritual world in various activities.

Children's perception of the external world is more and more abundant because of the development of children's ability to interact with the environment. Children can preserve sensory experience and recreate them in their mind through their imagination. Based on perceptual experience and guided by free association and desire thinking, children construct various intentional objects freely and then construct all these intentional things into their own meaning world through imagination. At the same time, children express their inner spiritual world through imagination. Imagination also brings spiritual activities to the edge of chaos and unfolds new creation. Imagination is the self-organization mechanism of children's mind.

Pretend play is a common feature of early childhood, while the anthropoid apes raised by humans only occasionally make simple imitation. Pretend play is one of the earliest external signs of children's imagination. When children play pretend play, they are free to change in the real and imaginary world, but they will still follow the causality and sequence of the development of things. Children's painting and storytelling are ways for children to express their imagination, and children's poetry as well.

Through imagination, children can balance the conflict between cognition and emotional world and get rid of the restriction in real life. Children's imagination expands the territory of children's mind. Children's imagination has ontological value because it is the embodiment of the nature of spiritual freedom and gives children consolation, and a wonderful mind as well。