Thinking Outside The Birdcage

I've always thought Butterfly was fairly creative. She has a huge imagination and uses it well. For example, she pretends to be at least 10 different animals or people per day, all with elaborate outfits, elaborate names with equally elaborate meanings.

So when my mother-in-law gave us a book on raising creative children a couple of Christmases ago, I thought it would be full of great tips. I found it the other day and started reading about this interesting activity called "The Pretend Game".

In this game, you ask your child to close her eyes and imagine a bird cage. You ask questions about the birdcage (is it large, small, etc.) Then you ask her to imagine the bird and ask similar questions about the bird. Eventually, you get them to imagine the bird growing large enough for them to take a ride on it and you ask them questions about what they are seeing and where they are going, etc.

I decided to try this with Bella thinking I would get some great answers since she is always pretending anyway. Here's how the game started:

Me: Butterfly, let's play a pretend game. Close your eyes and imagine a bird cage. Do you see it?

B: Yes.

Me: Is it little or big?

B: It's big!

Me: Do you see a bird inside there?

B: No. The BIRD is in the doghouse. There is a DOG inside the birdcage.

Me: Oh?

Not in the book.
Not in the box.
Not in the birdcage.