Books as Inspiration

One of the things I most look forward to in winter are our days sitting by the fire reading good books. When the weather permits, we want to be outdoors, but when it is too hot, too cold, too wet, etc., we love to read good books. I find it interesting to observe how the kids take ideas from these books and use them in their play.

One winter we completely got lost in the Harry Potter series. Even the long books we finished in just a few days. We just could not put them down. I remember watching my son and his friend, dressed in black cloaks, casting spells on one another in the backyard. Harry Potter inspired their play for quite some time.

We devoured everything written by Rick Riordan in a short period of time, as well. Once we had read all of his books, we wanted more, so we picked up the original stories from Greek and Egyptian mythology. Backyard play became a fight against mythical monsters.

The girls love their Fancy Nancy books. The ideas from these books brought a spa into our home. In between folding laundry and making lunch, I often get to have a foot massage, manicure and a hair style.

These books have also inspired my oldest daughter to plan "fancy nights". She creates a guest list and menu for the evening. She decorates and picks out fancy clothes for us all to wear.

We read the Madeleine L'Engle books about time travel, which inspired this creation:

I have been amazed at the many ways good books have inspired my children's play. It had gotten so I could almost predict the themes that would crop up in their play based on the books we were reading. But because there is never a dull moment here, lately my kids have been inspired by books in unusual ways.

My girls made this creation to hide their creative projects from one another:

This book tower was made while I was reading to the kids: