How to develop imagination in children and adults. Exercises to develop imagination

First, let's look at what imagination and fantasy are? These are types of thinking, this is the ability to mentally imagine what is not, from what is in memory. In other words, imagination is an active creative process of creating new knowledge (new ideas) from old knowledge. What is the difference between fantasy and imagination? If imagination is the ability to mentally create new ideas and images of possible and impossible objects based on real knowledge, then fantasy is the creation of also new, but unreal, fabulous, so far impossible situations and objects, say, but also on based on real knowledge. For example: the winged horse Pegasus, the Death's Head in Pushkin's fairy tale "Ruslan and Lyudmila", the fables of Baron Munchausen, Pinocchio, The Steadfast Tin Soldier - these are fantastic images.

There are several types of imagination:

1. Recreational is the presentation of images according to a previously compiled description, for example, when reading books, poems, notes, drawings, mathematical signs. Otherwise, this type of imagination is called reproductive, reproducing, remembering.

2. Creative is the independent creation of new images according to your own design. Children call it "out of the head." It is this kind of imagination that will be the subject of our study and development in children.

3. Uncontrollable - this is what is called "violent fantasy", absurdity, a set of unrelated absurdities.

How is fantasy and imagination different from serious problem solving?

When fantasizing, the child himself creates any kind of plot, including a fairy tale, any situation he wants, any problem, and he solves it as he pleases. Any solution is acceptable. And when solving real problems, the child is not looking for any, but a real, "adult", serious, feasible solution. In both cases, he creates, but when fantasizing, there is more freedom, since there are no prohibitions on the part of physical laws and much knowledge is not required. That is why it is better to start the development of children's thinking with the development of fantasy.

What is the difference between fantasy and stupidity?

When fantasy is harmful, it becomes stupidity. Stupidity is a stupid, ridiculous, unnecessary, unreasonable, wrong, harmful, inappropriate act or statement that does no honor to the one who committed it. Of course, one must take into account the age of the person, the conditions and goals of the act.

Is every fantasy good? There is a general criterion for assessing the quality of all deeds on Earth - this is an increase in goodness in the world.

The classic bearer of fantasy is a fairy tale.

How is a fairy tale different from science fiction? In science fiction, technically feasible situations, elements or processes are considered, but in a fairy tale, any. It should be noted that there is no sharp border between fantastic and real solutions either. For example, what was considered a fantasy in the time of Jules Verne is now a common reality. G.A.Altshuller calculated that out of 108 (!) Ideas-forecasts by J. Verne, 99 (90%) have been implemented. HG Wells from 86 - 77, Alexander Belyaev from 50 - 47.

When a child selflessly tells fables with his own participation, he is not lying, in our usual understanding, he composes. He doesn't care if it's real or not real. And it shouldn't be important to us, what is important is that the child's brain works, generates ideas. However, you should still pay attention to what the child dreams of. If he keeps talking about his non-existent friends, about tender parents or about toys, then maybe he suffers, dreams about it and thus pours out his soul? Help him immediately.

Why develop fantasy and imagination?

They say: "Without imagination, there is no consideration." A. Einstein considered the ability to imagine above much knowledge, because he believed that discoveries cannot be made without imagination. K.E. Tsiolkovsky believed that cold mathematical calculation is always preceded by imagination.

Sometimes in everyday life, fantasy and imagination are understood as something empty, unnecessary, lightweight, having no practical application. In fact, as practice has shown, a well-developed, bold, controlled imagination is an invaluable property of original non-standard thinking.

It is difficult for children to think "according to the laws", but if they are taught to fantasize and not criticize for it, then children fantasize easily and with pleasure, especially if they are also praised.

Apparently, this is how children subconsciously learn to think - in the game. This should be used and developed imagination and fantasy from early childhood. Let the children "reinvent their own bicycles." Those who did not invent bicycles in childhood will not be able to invent anything at all.

How to develop imagination and imagination in children?

There are three laws of the development of creative imagination:

1. The creative activity of the imagination is directly dependent on the richness and diversity of the previous personal experience of a person.

Indeed, any imagination is built from real elements, the richer the experience - the richer the imagination. Hence the consequence: it is necessary to help the child accumulate experience, images and knowledge (erudition), if we want him to be a creative person.

2. One can imagine what he himself did not see, but what he heard or read about, that is, one can fantasize on the basis of someone else's experience. For example, one can imagine an earthquake or a tsunami, although this has never been seen. It’s difficult without training, but it’s possible.

Ways to develop fantasy and imagination

Let us list the main ways of developing fantasy and imagination, and then consider the methods of developing creative imagination. Ideally, if the child himself wants and will develop his imagination and imagination. How can this be achieved?

1. Build motivation!

2. To convince that it is not a shame to fantasize, but it is very prestigious and useful for the child personally. They do not understand this yet. We need a game and vivid emotions. Children’s logic is not yet strong.

3. It should be interesting to fantasize. Then, having fun, the child will quickly master the ability to fantasize, and then the ability to imagine, and then to think rationally. Preschoolers have an interest not in reasoning, but in events.

4. Fall in love with children (attraction). On this "wave of love" they trust you more and more willingly obey.

5. By my own example. IN early childhood kids copy the behavior of adults, it is a sin not to take advantage of this. You are the authority for the child.

• at a tender age (2-6 years) - fairy tales, fantastic stories;
• in adolescence (7-14) - adventure fantasy novels (Jules Verne, Belyaeva, Conan Doyle, Wells);
• in adolescence and adulthood - good science fiction literature (Efremov, Strugatsky, Azimov, etc.).

Teach children to admire good imaginations.

7. Stimulate imagination with questions. For example: “What happens if you grow wings. Where would you fly? "

8. Putting children in difficult situations. Let them think and find a way out. For example, here is a classic problem: children got to a desert island, how to survive?

9. "Throw" interesting stories to children and ask them to compose stories, fairy tales, stories based on them.

10. Teach the following methods of developing imagination and fantasizing.

Using the techniques below does not eliminate the need to think. Techniques "not instead of", but "to help" the fantasy, techniques indicate the direction of thinking. Knowledge of the methods of fantasizing leads children to master the "adult" methods of resolving contradictions and solving inventive problems.

Techniques for the development of fantasy and imagination

Children know quite a lot of phenomena and laws of nature (for example, that all objects fall down, that heavy objects sink, liquids spill and have no shape, water freezes, wood, paper, a candle burn). This knowledge is quite enough to fantasize fruitfully, but children do not know how to fantasize, that is, they do not know the techniques of fantasizing.

Most of the methods of fantasizing are associated with changing laws or natural phenomena. You can change everything: any law of animate and inanimate nature, any social law, a law can act the other way around, you can invent completely new laws, you can exclude some existing laws, you can force laws to act or not to act at will, temporarily, periodically or unpredictably; you can change any creature of living nature: people (all people have become honest!), animals, plants.

Below are 35 techniques for daydreaming:

1. Increase - decrease.

This is the simplest technique, it is widely used in fairy tales, epics, science fiction. For example, Thumbelina, Thumb-Boy, Gulliver, Lilliputians, Gargantua and Pantagruel. You can increase and decrease almost everything: geometric dimensions, weight, height, volume, wealth, distance, speed.

It can be increased indefinitely from actual sizes to infinitely large and can be reduced from real to zero, that is, until complete destruction.

Here are the conversation games for mastering the "increase - decrease" technique.

1.1. The child is told: “Here's a magic wand, it can increase or decrease whatever you want. What would you like to increase and what would you like to decrease? "

- I would like to reduce my vocal lessons and increase my free time.
- I would like to reduce homework.
- I want to enlarge the candy to the size of the refrigerator so that I can cut the pieces with a knife.
- I want to increase the raindrops to the size of a watermelon.

1.2. Complicate this game with additional questions: “So what will come of this? Where it leads? Why do you want to increase or decrease? "

- Let your arms become so long for a while that you can get an apple from a branch, or say hello through the window, or get a ball from the roof, or, without getting up from the table, turn off the TV.
- If the trees in the forest are reduced to the size of grass, and the grass to the size of a match, then it will be easy to look for mushrooms.
- If it is difficult for a child to fantasize independently, offer to fantasize together, ask him supporting questions.

1.3 What happens if our nose lengthens for a while?

- It will be possible to smell flowers in a flower bed without leaving home; it will be possible to determine that the neighbors are cooking delicious;
- That's good, but what's wrong with that?
- There will be nowhere like that long nose do it, it will interfere with walking, riding in transport, it will even be uncomfortable to sleep, and in winter it will freeze. No, I don't need such a nose.

Invite your child to say what is good and what is bad if we increase or decrease something. Who will feel good and who will feel bad? This is already a moral analysis of the situation.

1.4. Tell me, what will be good and what will be bad for you personally and for others if the wizard enlarges you 10 times? If it is difficult for the child to guess, help him with additional questions.

- What size will you be then?
- How many kilograms will you weigh?

- And what will happen if your height decreases 10 times?
- Agree, it would be great if you could change your height at will. For example, you are late for school: you increased your leg length or cadence and quickly got to school, and then made your legs of normal length. Or another case. We must cross the river, and there is no bridge nearby. No problem!
- I will be 15 m high! This is the height of a five-story building!

Weight is a tricky question. Usually the answer is: 10 times more. In fact, if you keep all the proportions of the body, then the weight will increase 1000 times! If a person weighed 50 kg, then he will weigh 50 tons! I will run faster than a car. I will be strong, and no one will dare to offend me, and I will be able to protect anyone. I can carry enormous weights. I wonder which ones? Usually, a person can lift half of their weight. Then I can lift 25 tons! This is good. And what will be bad?

I won't fit in the class. We'll have to sew huge clothes and shoes. It will be very difficult to feed me. If we assume that a person eats 2% of his weight per day, then I will need food weighing 1 ton. I won't fit on any bus. Even on the street, I have to walk, bending over under the wires. I will have nowhere to live.

2. Adding one or more fantastic properties to one person or many people (as fragments or blanks of future fantastic works).

The technique of this type of fantasy is similar to the method of focal objects:

a) select several arbitrary objects of animate and / or inanimate nature;
b) formulate their properties, qualities, features or character traits. You can also invent new properties "out of your head";
c) the formulated properties and qualities endow a person.

For example, an eagle was chosen as an object ("property donor"). Qualities of the eagle: flies, excellent eyesight, eats rodents, lives in the mountains.

- A man can fly like an eagle. You can add: can fly in the stratosphere, in near and deep space.
- A person has a super-sharp eagle vision, for example, without a microscope he sees the cells of living tissues, crystal lattices of metals, even atoms, sees without a telescope and better than through a telescope, the surface of stars and planets. He sees through the walls, walks down the street and sees what is happening in the houses, and even penetrates the walls himself like an X-ray.
- Man eats eagle food - rodents, birds.
- The man is covered with feathers.

Continue fantasizing with this method, taking as an initial object: an electric light bulb, a fish (remember an amphibian man), a watch, glasses, a match, suspended animation (a sharp slowdown in life processes is very convenient: there is no money for food or there is nowhere to live - you fall into suspended animation) or the opposite of suspended animation (a sharp increase in life processes, a person does not know fatigue, moves with incredible speed, such a person will turn out to be a wonderful illusionist, or a runner, or an invincible fighter).

2.1. Come up with senses that a person does not have, but could have.
For example, it would be nice to feel the presence of radiation in order to protect yourself from it. Generally speaking, we feel it if we have radiation sickness.
It would be nice to be aware of nitrides and nitrates and other contaminants. There is a wonderful and rare feeling - this sense of proportion, not everyone has it.
It would not be bad to feel when you make a mistake and when danger is imminent (figuratively speaking, the red light would light up in this case).

2.2. The time will come and it will be possible to change internal organs... How would it look like?

2.3. Color the people according to their moral qualities. For example, all honest people turned pink, all dishonest ones purple, and evil ones blue. The more a person has done mean things, the darker the color. Describe what will happen to the world? Many, probably, would not leave the house.

3. Revived drawing.

You have received a wonderful gift, everything that you draw comes to life! What would you draw?
Great people? Endangered animals?
New animals and plants?

4. The exclusion of some human qualities.

List the properties and qualities of a person, and then exclude one or two properties and see what happened.

- The man does not sleep.
- The person does not feel pain.
- The person has lost weight, sense of smell.

Name at least 10 vital important qualities and human properties and think about the consequences of their loss.

5. Transformation of a person into any object.

A person turns into another person, into animals (birds, animals, insects, fish), into plants (into an oak, rose, baobab), into objects of inanimate nature (stone, wind, pencil). This is the richest material for new fairy tales.

But the most important thing in this technique is the education of empathy - the ability to reincarnate into another image and look at the world through his eyes.

Suggest at least 10 examples of human transformation, for example, in fairy tales.

6. Anthropomorphism.

Anthropomorphism is assimilation to a person, endowing with human properties (speech, thinking, the ability to feel) any objects - animate and inanimate: animals, plants, celestial bodies, mythical creatures.

Have you seen where in the world
Are you a young princess?
I am her fiancé. - My brother,
- The clear month answers, -
I have not seen the red maiden ...

Here Pushkin endowed the month with the ability to see, recognize, condole and speak.

Think of 10 examples of anthropomorphism from fairy tales, myths and fables you know and come up with at least 10 examples of possible anthropomorphism yourself.

7. Giving the objects of inanimate nature the abilities and qualities of living beings.

Namely: the ability to move, think, feel, breathe, grow, rejoice, multiply, joke, smile.

- The boy sits astride a stick and imagines it as a horse and himself as a rider.
- What kind of living creature would you turn a balloon into?

Think of at least 10 examples of such transformations.

8. Giving extraordinary properties to objects of inanimate nature.

For example, a stone. It glows, always warm (it never cools!), You can warm your hands in frost, makes the water sweet and healing, but does not dissolve itself.

The contemplation of the stone inspires writing poetry and painting, etc.

Here good game for the development of fantasy. Children (or adults) stand in a circle. One is given a soft toy or a ball in his hands and asked to throw it to someone with warm words: “I give you a hare,” or “Yurochka, I’m giving you a kid, his horns haven’t grown yet,” or “Hold, Masha, a large candy ", or" I give you a piece of my heart "," I give you a squirrel "," This is a glass ball, do not break it "," This is a cactus, do not prick. "

9. Reanimation of dead people, animals, plants.

For example:

- What would happen if the brontosaurs were resurrected?
- What else would Pushkin have created if he had not passed away so early?
You can "revive" all kinds of extinct animals and people!

Suggest 10 variations of such a game.

10. Revival of deceased heroes of literary works, in particular, heroes of fairy tales.

- The character of the fairy tale died? It doesn't matter, you need to draw it and it will come to life.

Come up with the continuation of the fairy tales, provided that the heroes of the fairy tale did not die. The fox did not eat the kolobok, Ruslan did not chop off Chernomor's beard, the Tin Soldier did not melt, Onegin did not kill Lensky.

Suggest 10 variations of such a game.

11. Revitalization of the heroes of art paintings and sculptures.

The characters of the paintings of famous artists - barge haulers, hunters, Cossacks, archers came to life.

Name 10 paintings by famous artists and suggest the continuation of the plot, provided that the characters come to life.

12. Changing the usual relationships between the heroes of fairy tales.

Let us recall the following situations: the pike sings a lullaby ("The Pike opens its mouth"); " Grey Wolf Serves her faithfully ”; Brave Bunny; cowardly lion.

Think of a fairy tale with such an incredible plot: The fox has become the most rustic in the forest, and all the animals are deceiving her.

13. Metaphor.

Metaphor is the transfer of the properties of one object (phenomenon) to another on the basis of a feature common to both objects. For example, "the sound of waves", "cold eyes". Here is an excerpt made up of some metaphors:

On a thread of idle fun
He lowered with a cunning hand
Transparent flattery necklace
And a rosary of golden wisdom.
A.S. Pushkin

Name the metaphors and ask the children to explain which properties were transferred to whom.
Gentle character. Cheeks burn. Drowned in twos. Keep tightly knit. Turned green with anger. Steel muscles. Iron character. Bronze body.

14. Give a new name to the painting.

The child is shown many plot pictures, postcards or reproductions of famous artists and asked to give them new names. Compare who named it better: a child or an artist. The basis for the name can be a plot, mood, deeper meaning, etc.

Give 10 new names of old famous paintings.

15. Fantastic association.

A fantastic, that is, an incredible idea can be obtained by combining the properties or parts of two or three objects. For example, fish + man = mermaid, horse + man = centaur. Who are the sirens? The same pair of objects can give different ideas depending on the qualities combined.

Suggest 10 examples of combining unexpected qualities of different real beings.

16. Fantastic crushing.

Remember the plot of the wonderful novel "The Twelve Chairs" or the plot of Svetlov's fairy tale about a man named Ruble, who fell from the fifteenth floor and broke into ten dimes. Each dime has its own destiny. One dime was exchanged for a penny, the other became a big boss and looked more important than the ruble, the third began to multiply.

Come up with a fairy tale on a similar plot. For example, an orange scattered into slices, a pomegranate scattered into 365 grains (exactly 365 grains in any pomegranate, check), the fate of sisters-peas from one pod.

17. "How lucky I am."

How lucky I am, - says the sunflower, - I look like the sun.
How lucky I am, - says the potato, - I feed people.
How lucky I am, - says the birch, - they make fragrant brooms out of me.

Come up with 10 variations of such a game.

18. Reception acceleration - deceleration.

The speed of any processes can be accelerated or slowed down. To direct the fantasy in this direction, they ask questions such as: "What will happen if", "What will happen if".

- What will happen if the Earth begins to rotate 24 times faster? The day will last 1 hour. In 1 hour you need to have time to sleep, have breakfast, go to school (15 minutes), have lunch, do your homework (3-4 minutes), take a walk, have dinner.

- What will happen if the seasons last 100 years? (Then people who were born at the beginning of winter would never see green grass, flowers, flooding of rivers) Task. Suggest three or four plots related to the indicated technique.

19. Acceleration and deceleration of time.

Themes of science fiction stories.

Situation 1. You have invented a chronodin - a device with which you can change the speed of time and the speed of processes in time at will. You can speed up any processes or slow them down.

Situation 2. It was not you who invented chronodin, but someone else, and this other, unexpectedly for you, at his will, changes the speed of the processes in which you participate.

The lesson lasts 40 minutes, then 4 minutes, then 4 hours, and all this is unpredictable for the teacher and the students. I started eating cake, and time has accelerated 1000 times! It's a shame! How to live in such a world?

Situation 3. You invented chronotour (a tour is a movement in a circle) - a device with which you can repeat events, rejuvenate and age people, animals, objects, machines many times.

- Whom would you rejuvenate and for how many years?
- What period of your life would you like to live again?

The task. Suggest a few stories that use these techniques.

20. Time machine.

You have a time machine! You sit in it and can travel to the near and distant past of any country, to the near and far future of any country and be there any time. But nothing can be changed there, you can only watch. While you are in the past or in the future, life on Earth proceeds according to its usual laws.

"Home option": sitting at home, you gaze into the "Mirror of Time" or mentally take pictures with the "Time Camera" or "Time Movie Camera" or with the "Magic Eye". Name the place and time and, please, the image is ready.

- What would you like to see in the past?
- What were your mother and grandmother like when they were the same age as I am now?
- How did dinosaurs live?
- I would like to meet and talk with Pushkin, with Napoleon, with Socrates, with Magellan.
- What would you like to see in the future?
- Who will I be? How many children will I have?
- Talk to your future son.

Here's an incredible situation. A message was sent from Earth to a distant star. Reasonable beings live on this star, they have a time machine. They sent a response, but they were wrong, and the response came to Earth before the message was sent.

The task. Suggest 10 time machine effects.

21. Chronoclasm.

This is a paradox caused by interference with a previous life. Someone moved into the past and changed something there, and then returned, but on Earth everything is different. To encourage fantasizing in this direction, questions such as are asked:

- What would happen now if something happened differently in the past, or something did not happen at all?
- What should have been changed in the past so that what happened did not happen?

For example:

- I lost my keys. It doesn’t matter, I’m going back in time and don’t take my keys with me.
- What would have happened if there had not been a coup in 1917?

- What can be changed in the past? Everything can be changed in the past! Deeds of people, phenomena of animate and inanimate nature, surroundings.

Chronoclasm, time machine, chronotour, chronodin - these are wonderful methods of fantasy, they provide an inexhaustible number of plots.

The task. Suggest some crazy plots for these techniques.
(I went to look for a bride in the past. I found out why the brontosaurs died out.)

22. The method of L. N. Tolstoy.

They write that L.N. Tolstoy regularly used the following method every morning as morning exercises of the mind.

Take the most common object: chair, table, pillow, book. Describe this object in the words of a person who has never seen it before and does not know what it is and why.

For example, what would an Australian aborigine say about a watch?

The task. Make some descriptions of items for the native.

23. Free fantasy.

Children are invited to fantasize uncontrollably on a given topic, using any fantasy techniques and any combination of them. Unlike solving some serious problem, you can offer any ideas, even the most delusional ones.

Come up with a fantastic plant.

- All known fruits grow on one plant at the same time: apples, pears, oranges, avocados, pineapples, mangoes, coconuts.

- All known fruits and vegetables grow on one plant (tomatoes and potatoes, you can make tobacco from the leaves, get an analgesic medicine and a “beauty remedy.” In principle, this is possible, since tomatoes, potatoes, tobacco, belladonna (in Italian - "Beautiful lady") belong to the same family - the nightshade.

- The same plant grows known and unknown fruits, vegetables and nuts.

- Amazing watermelon: inside marmalade, and instead of seeds - candies. This is also possible, only it must be watered with sweet water and honey.

- Objects of animate and inanimate nature grow on one tree.

- The flower is made of chocolate and never fades, no matter how much you eat it.

24. Come up with a fantastic structure.

The building of the future: from the inside to the outside, everything is visible, but from the outside to the inside, nothing is visible. A creature (man, dog ..) with intentions harmful to the owner of the house cannot enter the building.

What qualities should a house have if the owner's weight and size changes 10 times every hour?

25. Come up with a new form of transport.

Invention ideas:

- A mesonic-gravitational-electromagnetic beam is directed at a person, which splits a person into atoms, memorize their mutual position, transfer them over the atom to the right place and collect there in the same order. (Analyze the situation: the program for assembling a person deteriorated, but they did not notice it! How did you assemble a person? And if the atoms of several people were mixed up?)

- Synthetic transport, combining the advantages of all known types of transport: rocket speed, luxury of a top-class cabin of an ocean liner, all-weather aircraft for lightning research, the uselessness of helicopter landing and take-off pads, the healthiness of horse transport.

- The road surface is wavy or triangular. Think of a wheel that doesn't shake on such a road. This will also be an invention!

26. Come up with a new holiday or competition.

- Feast of Flowers. All have flowers painted on their cheeks. On this day, you can only speak in Chinese flowers.

- Feast of the arrival of swallows.

- Feast of the first mosquito.

Dreamers competition. There are two teams involved. Each team offers the other team different tasks: a) a theme for a humorous story of 5 phrases; b) an object for composing a riddle (table, fork, TV); c) the beginning of the story. For example. “My friend Keith invited me to travel around the world”; d) some method of fantasizing is proposed. It is necessary, using this technique, to come up with an incredible story.

27. Come up with a dramatic storyline.

- Mom, beyond all measure, spoiled her daughter. What happened to mom and daughter?

- A man got lost, accidentally found a house abandoned by hunters and lived there for 7 years. How did he live there? What did he eat, what did he wear? .. (After five years he forgot how to speak, etc.)

28. Come up with a fantastic new game.

To come up with a new unprecedented game, you need to come up with incredible conditions and rules for this game.

- Chess pieces are made of chocolate; won an opponent's piece and you can eat it right there.

- The game "Edible checkers". They do become edible, but only after they have been honestly won. Think of what special properties a won king and a locked checker will have?

- Cylinder checkers and chess. The board is folded into a cylinder so that the fields a1, a2, a3, etc. become next to the fields h1, h2, h3, respectively. The vertical lines become the generatrix of the cylinder.

- Checkers of Lobachevsky. The board is mentally folded into a fantastic figure - both the sides and the sides facing the players close at the same time. The generators are vertical and horizontal at the same time.

- Superchess. Instead of chess pieces - cubes. On the edges of each cube there are images of six figures, except for the king. Once per game, you can change the status of a piece (turn the dice), unexpectedly for the enemy.

29. The magical fulfillment of one's own desires and the materialization of thoughts.

You have become a powerful wizard. It is enough to think - and any, but only good, your desire will come true. For example, you can make anyone happy. But if you are planning something bad for someone else, then it will happen to you.

Here's a test of goodwill.

Tell the children that they can do whatever they want with people, good or bad, for an hour. Check out what the kids want to do? Good or Evil?

The robbers have caught a worthy man and want to kill him. Suggest at least 10 ways to save him (make him invisible, freeze the robbers).

30. You began to possess the gift of telepathy.

Telepathy is the transmission of thoughts and feelings over a distance without the mediation of the senses. You can even not only read the thoughts of other people, but also mentally force people to do what you want. How are you using this gift?

31. The method of Nadya Rusheva.

Here's another great way to develop imagination and drawing skills. It is widely known universal way owned by the brilliant girl Nadya Rusheva.

By the age of 16, she had read books with a felt-tip pen or pen in hand by more than fifty writers, from ancient to modern: Homer, Shakespeare, Pushkin, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Exupery, Bulgakov and drew, painted, painted. I read, fantasized and painted. This helped her achieve lightness, sophistication and "soaring" lines in her drawings. For seventeen years of her life, she created ten thousand wonderful drawings! Being engaged in ballet as a child, she knew how hard it was to achieve this “ease of soaring”. This wonderful, but not popular method is called: hard work and perseverance!

32. "RVS" method.

RVS is an abbreviation of three words: size, weight, cost.

It should be noted that the "RVS" method is a special case of more general method"Decrease - increase", when it is possible to change from zero to infinity any characteristics of the system, and not just size, weight or cost. For example, speed, quantity, quality, friction, power of thinking, power of memory, firm profit, headcount, salaries. Such thought experiments “blur” the usual idea of ​​the system being improved, make it “soft”, changeable, and give an opportunity to look at the problem from an unusual perspective.

The RVS method is based on the dialectical principle of the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative ones. This method is also called "the method of checking for a monster," or "the method of passage to the limit," or "the method of increasing contradictions."

The PBC method is very good at developing fantasy and imagination, and also allows you to overcome the mental inertia of thinking. We must remember that we are conducting a thought experiment where everything is possible, and not practical, when the inexorable laws of nature operate.

There is also the "super-RVS" method, when the limiting transitions of several characteristics are observed simultaneously. Such "blows on the subcortex" can carve something non-standard. For example, what will happen to the system if the system has the minimum cost, but the maximum size and weight, etc. Of course, you need to learn how to use the RVS method.

33. The method of transferring properties.

Consider a very funny, mischievous and very simple (for those who can fantasize) method of endowing ordinary objects with properties that are completely unusual for them, taken, however, from ordinary objects. In science, this method is called the focal object method.

The algorithm is very simple.

The first step: an item is selected that they want to improve or give it completely unusual properties. For children, it can be a toy, doll, ball, notebook, textbook, class magazine, animal, plant or person. This will be the so-called focal object. For example, let's choose a Barbie doll as the focal object. It seems that she is already - the limit of fiction in the class of dolls. Let's see what happens.

Second step: choose a few random objects. For example: light bulb, balloon, TV.

The third step: for these random objects, a list of their characteristic properties, functions and attributes is drawn up.

An electric light bulb - glows, warm, transparent, burns out, is included in the power grid.
Balloon - flies, inflates, does not sink, bounces.
TV - shows, speaks, sings, has control knobs.

Fourth step: the formulated properties are transferred to the focal object.
So what happens? Let's fantasize and especially not care about the real possibility of realizing what we have invented. Go:

The doll glows from the inside with a matte pink-milky light. The room is dark and it glows. This is good: you won't lose it and you can even read!

The doll is always pleasantly warm, as if alive. You can take it outside and warm your hands. You can put bird eggs next to a warm doll and chicks or chickens will hatch from them. You can lean against the aquarium - and the doll will heat the water for the fish.

It is transparent. You can see how her heart beats, blood flows through the vessels, you can study anatomy.

Burns out. Obviously, she needs to have spare parts: a set of arms, legs, heads, dresses. Doll constructor.

Now let's see what ideas the balloon will give us.

Flying doll. Angel doll with wings. A swan doll, dragonfly, parachutist, flying squirrel or bat, it has beautiful transparent membranes from fingertips to toes.

Inflatable doll. You can make a slim or fat Barbie, you can make a flat one for carrying. When the head is inflated separately, the facial expression changes. With an inflated doll, you can play in the bath, learn to swim.

What is the comparison with the TV.

Let the doll show morning exercises, aerobics, yoga asanas every morning.
Let him scream indignantly when they begin to break her or quarrel with her.

A combination of properties can be used. As a rule, among the absurdities come across original ideas, which will not present the method of trial and error.

The focal object method is an excellent method for developing the imagination, associative thinking and serious invention.

Suggestions that develop the method.

Children really like it when they themselves are "in focus". Improving clothes, such as stockings, tights, boots, is a lot of fun.
You can pre-define the feature class in the second step.
The method can be used to come up with the design of shops, exhibitions, gifts.

Before starting the session of generating ideas, you can think with the children what is good and what is bad for the chosen focal object, who is good and who is bad, why is good and why is bad, etc. And then start fantasizing.

The best inventions must be praised.

34. A combination of techniques.

The "aerobatics" of fantasizing is the use of many techniques simultaneously or sequentially. We used one technique, and a new technique was added to the result. This leads very far from the initial object and where it will lead is completely unknown. A very interesting activity, try it. But only a boldly thinking person can do this.

The task. Take some fabulous object (Pinocchio, Kolobok) and apply 5-10 fantasy techniques to it in succession. What happens?

35. Beautiful ancient fantasies with transformations.

As examples of great fantasy, let us recall the myths of the ancient Greeks and Romans, in which people turn into plants.

The beautiful youth Cypress accidentally killed his favorite deer. He begged the silver-bowed Apollo to let him be sad forever, and Apollo turned him into a slender cypress tree. Since then, the cypress is considered a sad grave tree.

Another beautiful young man, Narcissus, had a different fate. According to one version, Narcissus saw his reflection in the river, fell in love with him and died of self-love. The gods turned him into fragrant flower... According to another version, Narcissus dared not to answer the woman's love, and, at the request of other women rejected by men, he was turned into a flower. According to another version of this myth, Narcissus had a dearly beloved twin sister. The sister died unexpectedly. The yearning Narcissus saw his reflection in the stream, thought it was his sister, looked at his reflection for a long time and died of grief. According to the fourth version, seeing his reflection in the river and falling in love with him, Narcissus realized the hopelessness of this love and stabbed himself. From the drops of Narcissus's blood, flowers have grown, named after him.

Perfect examples of fantasy. One version is prettier than the other. Try and you offer your no less dramatic or touching versions of Narcissus.

The Legend of Daphne. Pursued by Apollo in love with her, the young nymph Daphne prayed for help to the gods and was turned into a laurel, which became the sacred tree of Apollo. Since then, the winners of the musical (musical) competitions in honor of Apollo have been awarded a laurel wreath. In ancient art, Daphne (Daphnia) was depicted at the moment when, overtaken by Apollo, she turns (sprouts) into a laurel.

The desperate young man Phaethon could not cope with the horses of the solar team of his father, the sun god Helios, for which he was struck by the lightning of Zeus. The Heliads, Phaethon's sisters, mourned the death of their brother so mournfully that the gods turned them into poplars, the leaves of which always rustle sadly. Heliad's tears became amber.

To fantasize and come up with something incredible is characteristic of the vast majority of children. Toddlers refuse to sleep in dark room, afraid of monsters, and schoolchildren talk about dogs eating notebooks with homework... Such fruits of the violent imagination of some parents only amuse, while others are enraged. This is not surprising, because many adults have long forgotten how to imagine and fantasize. Let's try to find out how useful imagination is and how to develop imagination.

What it is?

Child psychologists say that imagining and fantasizing for a baby is simply necessary for normal mental development. In the first years of life, the child calls on his imagination to help in all situations that he cannot explain on his own. With the accumulation of life experience, dreams and fantasies acquire a greater connection with reality. Adults devote very little time and attention to dreams. And really, why is the world of illusions, if in reality there are enough worries? In fact, a good fantasy not only will not hurt anyone, but can also help in many areas of life. Imagination is an abstract concept that expresses the ability to fantasize and imagine something that does not exist in reality. The word “imagine” can be considered a synonym for such popular definitions today as “creativity” and “creative thinking”.

The use of fantasy

Before talking about how to develop imagination, let's try to understand why it is needed. It would seem that thinking creatively and constantly coming up with something new is useful only for musicians, artists and writers. This is a big misconception, in fact, imagination is useful to every person. People with a good imagination are never bored. They come up with interesting options pastime for the whole company and instantly find something to do alone. People with developed creative thinking are not afraid to master new activities. They cook food without looking at recipes, easily come up with their own design projects during repairs and very quickly choose clothes for any occasion. Usually, such employees are also appreciated at work, because they are the first to put forward interesting ideas and are happy to work on non-standard projects. And if you give your imagination complete freedom, you can even try to open your own business.

We determine the creativity and the level of development of the imagination

It is a mistake to think of fantasy as an innate skill. Rather, it is one of the psychological techniques that anyone can master with desire and regular training. And yet it is really possible to notice that some have more developed imagination, and some less. Try to reasonably assess how easily and quickly you come up with a plan of action in an unusual situation? Thinking about the development of their own imagination should be those who think for a long time about gifts for their loved ones. If you don't like reading and only a few books make an impression, the problem may also be underdeveloped imagination. It is believed that imagination is most useful for children. And this is really so, because the sooner a person begins to engage in some kind of creativity and think creatively, the more success he will achieve.

Simple techniques to train your imagination

You can develop imagination and fantasy at any age. The easiest way is to offer children to dream up. Perfectly stimulates the imagination of any kind of creativity. During lessons with your child, invite him to do something unusual, to invent as much as possible on his own. Any role-playing games are a quality figment of the imagination. When a child transforms into fairytale hero, he truly believes in his new role.

A similar game will be useful for an adult as well. Play with your child by pretending to be some kind of animal or fictional character. You can try this exercise alone. Imagine yourself in another place or as a person of the opposite sex. The main thing is to drop shyness and prejudice. Play your chosen role as if you were a professional actor.

How to develop imagination in adults and children? Simple enough to fantasize whenever possible. You can think over your tomorrow morning in the evening, presenting it in all colors. Use meditation techniques - close your eyes and imagine whole new worlds. How to develop the imagination of a child 8-9 years old with the help simple exercises? Introduce your son or daughter to arts that are new to him. When discussing a particular piece, ask what could be changed in it. From time to time ask your child to try to write a story, do not be lazy to look for constellations together and discuss what clouds are like. Stimulate the imagination and the right toys: all and some puzzles.

Learn to think and act outside the box

Very often in the adult world, daydreaming is considered negative feature character. About people who love to plunge into the world of dreams, they say: "He seems to be in the clouds." But if you turn to fantasy from time to time, you will only get useful skills. How to develop imagination without losing touch with reality? Use your imagination to solve everyday problems. Imagine how you are doing something. It is especially useful to think about several options at once in cases where the situation is completely beyond your control. Try to break the usual course of events every day. Learn to act impulsively. Of course, this is not a call to quit work or household chores. Try to walk along an unusual route, go to a new store for yourself, or take an extra half hour for a walk.

How to develop imagination for drawing for an adult or a child?

It's hard to believe, but sometimes a lack of imagination suffers. A simple example: a person knows how to draw or sculpt well, but does not know what to depict. It is important to understand that any kind of visual art is born in the mind of the creator. And this means that there is no separate technique for developing the imagination for drawing, you should just fantasize more. In order to create a drawing, you can take as a basis a character or a landscape that you have already seen or thought of earlier. Then you just have to think over the details, and remember: there are no prohibitions. You can also draw directly in the dream world. using this technique? Close your eyes and imagine a white sheet of paper, then mentally draw a drawing on it. Try to really see the whole process and see all the details and proportions. By doing this exercise regularly, you will learn how to draw real masterpieces. After that, you just have to transfer them to paper as well as your imagination creates them.

We train imagination every day

Still not sure how to develop the imagination in adults? Exercises that you can do in between will help you with this. Remember any story - let it be the plot of a movie or a book. Imagine an alternative ending, or better yet, several. If you love reality shows or watch with interest the turbulent personal life of your neighbors, you can also dream about what will happen to the characters in the future. Turn on the TV without sound, looking at the picture, come up with dialogues and monologues of the characters. When talking on the phone, put a few dots on the paper. Try to connect them with a continuous line to get some kind of complete drawing.

One of the most important forms of reflection of the surrounding reality is imagination. Ability for imaginative thinking, for the mental reconstruction of an object or phenomenon, for solving problems without immediate practical action, to abstract modeling - that's what imagination is.

How to develop imagination or fantasy?

First, let's figure out when a person needs such an ability. Human memory and play, creativity and planning, dreams of the future, memories of the past, even an elementary reflection of the world visible with the eyes and transformation into images of specific external objects - all these mental processes are impossible without imagination, they are imagination itself. What happens to a person who is deprived of the gift of figurative thinking? Probably, he will be able to live only according to templates built in advance for him. It is impossible for him to conjecture the situation, to think at least one step ahead. Deprived of abstract thinking, he will not be able to understand art, enjoy music or poetry, he will not even see dreams. A world devoid of color — isn't it a terrifying prospect? Like any ability, even innate, imagination can and should be formed.

Developing imagination is a creative, interesting and challenging process. We have already noted that image and thought are an inseparable whole, and the human imagination itself is connected with thinking by the most intimate bonds. Therefore, any exercise aimed at developing thinking will help the formation of imagination. Creative imagination also implies the upbringing of an independent personality, for it involves the creation of new, original, unparalleled things, images or signs.

Ways to develop creative imagination

• the accumulation of vivid images through thoughtful communication with nature and recording the results of observations in verbal form, in drawings and crafts;
• an attempt at imaginary "travel" to places hidden by a schematic representation of lines on a map;
• careful reading of books with "immersion" in the details of the descriptions of the heroes' appearance, interiors and landscapes, with a purposeful desire to recreate in the imagination what the authors describe;
• the formation of imagination in games: role-playing, with words, with fantastic proposed circumstances.

Imagination games

From an early age, it makes sense to pay attention to the development of imagination in children. A playful, entertaining way is most suitable here, for example, task-games

• coming up with riddles about terrestrial objects for aliens who have never heard of these objects and have not seen them;
• composing poems and fairy tales on arbitrary topics;
• drawing and sculpting fantastic animals, plants, stones;
• a game of fantastic assumptions, starting with the question: what would happen if ...
• word game: they choose a word and make each letter the beginning of a new word, and then make up lines with rhymes from the received words or make up a story based on them.

Psychologists say that by the age of three, a child accumulates sufficient experience and demonstrates the first manifestations of imagination. Development of imagination in children preschool age- the task is very delicate and important. Kids often mix real and imagined, and if you do not help the child in time, do not direct his fantasy in the right direction, he can start living in a fictional world, moving away from reality. Teachers attach exceptional importance to role-playing games, when, taking on a role, children strive for the most accurate similarity of the invented images with really existing characters. Fine art (modeling, drawing), construction and constructive activity, accompanied by stories and explanations of the child - all this gives scope to the child's imagination and develops conscious thinking.

A full-fledged creative act is always a breakthrough, it is going beyond some previously designated framework. This is a shift in consciousness one step forward. We can say that we are all in a non-mental field with designated boundaries. It is like a state with its own rules, the role of which is played by cause-and-effect relationships. So creativity transforms these boundaries. He is cramped within the designated framework. He is not interested in following the scheme. It seeks secret door in this closed world, and finds her. The path where she is, the imagination tells him.

Imagination- it is like a kind of force capable of raising a person's thought upward, where new horizons are visible, where old rules are canceled, and new ones are established.

At the very beginning we talked about the so-called new connections between objects, which are possible thanks to the incredible capabilities of our brain. The imagination establishes these connections. Rather, he has the courage not to notice the old, to overcome them, creating new ones. Mechanically it looks like this:

When receiving a creative task, the brain usually follows the path of "least resistance" - it begins to issue solutions that "lie" somewhere on the surface. Going by inertia, it issues solutions based on the old connections established earlier. They seem to attract us. This is all we have seen, heard before. The creative mechanism is not included in this case.

If a person is not satisfied with this level of solving the problem, he begins to look for an option, personal, new, that is, to approach the solution creatively. The solution can always be unexpected, since new connections are formed between already known objects. A so-called paradox arises, which the famous poet called "the friend of a genius."

How to train your imagination?

Of course, one cannot but say that imagination is formed in a person's life from childhood and throughout life. Reading fiction, travel is one of the sources for the development of imagination. As for the training itself, it is built on exercises in which the inertia of thought would be overcome, and the ability to transform the image of an object would also develop. One of the exercises is presented as a game in which several people can participate. Its meaning is as follows. One of the participants must name any word (for example, the sun) and the other must name a word that would not have close associations with the previous one. For example, pliers. The next participant again needs to overcome the "close associative network of concepts" with this word. For example, Antarctica. The fewer connections between words, the better. Imagine that you are stranded on a desert island. Of the few things that remained with you after the shipwreck, you found an ordinary paper clip. Suggest 20-30 options for its "new" use. Try to be an inventor. Every invention that has appeared in history has always been created by combining properties and qualities taken from different objects. For example: car and steel = tank. So we need to take two objects and make a third out of them. Take such objects: a tennis racket and a bottle, a watch and a brooch, an umbrella and a newspaper, a lamp and a wallet, a telephone and a mixer. Let your imagination see the future. Think of the future equivalent of today's money. Based on this, describe this futuristic world. If you have children, then you know what children's curiosity is at a certain age. Answer the following children's questions in a very meaningful and complete way: Who paints a cat in different colors? Why does it rain and not run? Where are the keys to the heart kept?

Traditionally, thinking is considered the most important mental cognitive process, and imagination is inextricably linked with it, but rather an auxiliary ability necessary for creativity and design. Only about ten years ago, ideas appeared in the public mind about what exactly Magic world imagination, and not any other mental process, can significantly change the life of any person for the better.

Recently, it has become widely used (including by practicing psychologists) imaging method based on the creation and management of visual images in the imagination. By correctly imagining the desired event, you can “attract” it into your life, that is, increase the likelihood that it will become a reality.

The question of whether thought is material is long-standing, philosophical and rhetorical. But increasingly, scientists are finding evidence that thoughts (or rather, mental images) can be realized in the external world. It is scientifically proven that dreams, fantasies and dreams are not empty and not just pleasant, but a useful and productive pastime.

You can argue for a long time how productive imagination is, or you can test the theory in practice and experiment with your own imagination.

Today there is no common understanding and definition of the concept of "imagination", this is due to the fact that it is difficult to evaluate or measure in any way, it is too abstract, ephemeral, subjective, multifaceted and has many characteristics.

Imagination- This:

• mental cognitive process, transforming, anticipating, building options for actions and behavior;
• universal ability to the construction of new images of reality;
• form presentation and display of existing reality;
• way mastering the desired future by a person, helping to set goals and make plans;
• psychological the basis of creativity;
• general property of consciousness.

In childhood a person has not yet learned to think logically and stereotypically, so he imagines a lot. Thanks to physical activity and the use of thinking in finding ways to solve practical problems, children think creatively. Imagination develops best and fastest in play. And childish lies are often just a form of imagination. Children come up with a lot because it's more interesting to live this way.

Imagination under construction on the picture of the world in the mind and on the personal emotional, intellectual, sensual, practical experience... The process of imagination is impossible without the participation of perception, attention, memory, creative or divergent thinking.

Both thinking and imagination are turned on at the moment of uncertainty, problematic situation or mental task. But imagination, unlike thinking, does not need all the fullness of knowledge to know something.

Imagination does not analyze, but transforms information coming from outside. In addition, the imagination is always accompanied by emotions: either the imaginary image provokes them, or the emotion "turns on" the imagination.

Imagination allows you to get the experience of experiencing an event that did not exist, does not exist, and may not be.

Varieties of imagination

Imagination is involved in all types of human activity, but most often in creativity. Developed imagination, creativity and creative thinking just necessary for people creative professions... But people, the specifics of whose activities are far from free fantasy, daily have to deal with a considerable number of its types and forms, without noticing it.

Views imagination:

1. Based on the results of the process:

• productive or creative, when the product of the imagination is relative or absolute innovation;
• reproductive, when an object already existing in the world is recreated.

1. By the degree of activity:

• active, involving some effort of will;
• passive or involuntary, when a creative product is obtained unintentionally and unpredictably.

1. Depending on the mechanism of the imagination:

• schematization - identifying similarities and smoothing differences;
• agglutination - the connection in the mind of objects incompatible at first glance;
• hyperbolization - a decrease or increase in an object or its parts;
• typification is the identification of the main and recurring element in homogeneous phenomena.

Forms imagination:

1. A dream is a vision of the future, the timing of which is uncertain.
2. Fantasy is largely a modified reflection of reality.
3. Dreams are a representation of the unattainable and unrealizable.
4. Hallucinations are images that arise in consciousness without an external stimulus.
5. Dreams are a form of unconscious visualization.

Interesting fact! Scientists were able to experimentally prove that in the process of imagining an event, all the same zones are involved in the human brain that are involved when the action is actually performed, and not imagined. It turns out that for the brain there is no difference between the imaginary and the real.

How to develop imagination

Developing your imagination is essential to becoming a more successful and happier person, and you don't have to wait for inspiration to do this. The development of imagination is a much less laborious activity than the development of another mental process, ability, personality trait.

It all starts with a dream! To develop imagination, you need to learn dream... Some adult and serious person will probably say: “Why should I waste time on dreams and fantasies when I need to do my daily business ?!”. And a person who decides to work on his character and personality is more likely to start developing thinking, memory, speech, but he will hardly consider it necessary to develop the ability to dream.

But, dreaming- not an empty activity, it develops logical thinking, memory, concentration of attention and forms enthusiasm, that is, increases the motivation for achievement. During the free flight of imagination, ingenious ideas can unexpectedly come to mind, answers to long ago exciting questions, options for solving problems.

Such flashes of insight are called "insight" in psychology. Insight- this is a sudden and not logically deduced from past experience awareness of the essence and correct decision mental task; it is a direct, intuitive comprehension of the truth.

Another way to develop the imagination that contributes to self-realization is visualization- the presentation of a certain, desired, concrete, extremely accurate to the smallest detail, the image of the glorified goal.

The target (desired event or object) is visualized, not just pleasant situations. Task: repeatedly (up to several times a day) to imagine that the desired goal has already been achieved, moreover successfully and in exactly the way and within the time period that were determined during goal setting.

The visualized events should be felt as occurring in the present time. For example, if you dream of your own house, you need to visualize your presence in this house at the present time: take a shower, cook in the kitchen, water the flowers on the windowsill in this house and feel the joy of achieving the goal.

Reading also perfectly develops the imagination. Imagining the heroes and the events taking place with them, the reader "plunges" into the book and turns on fantasy, creates a whole virtual world in his mind.

Of course, any creativity helps to develop imagination. You don't have to be a great artist to paint"Kalyaki-malyaki" in free time. It is especially good to draw not realistic pictures, but abstract, fantastic, surreal ones. To draw "from the heart" - just pick up a pencil, relax, let go of all thoughts and worries and draw as you like and whatever.

Also develop the imagination such classes So:

• interesting communication,
• acquiring new experiences,
• observation of nature and people,
• photographing,
• role-playing games,
• games that develop the imagination.

To develop imagination, it is enough to start “include” it in conscious activity and observe how the perception of the world changes from this. And the imaginary desired life will certainly begin to manifest itself in reality through the power of imagination.

Do you often dream and / or visualize your goals?