Which are the 3 secret ingredients of learning? Glee, wonder and fun (and this is valid for both children and adults!). Laughing, chuckling and giggling have many advantages: they are good for the abdomen and face muscles plus they get the blood flowing, increasing oxygen levels. Additionally, they trigger all the so-called happy hormones, neurotransmitters like endorphin, serotonin and oxytocin. Learning is a journey of exploration and discovery: starting from facts, narrations that make sense can unfold and we learn lots of interesting things. But there is another pivotal possibility to train the mind making sure to include the 3 secret ingredients: shaking up the reality to play with the fantastic and the absurd. (This does not apply to very small children where sensory activity is experienced without adding symbolic value).
Italian writer and school teacher Gianni Rodari in his groundbreaking book, The Grammar of Fantasy, (first published in 1973), outlined the importance of valuing children’s creativity and suggested the works of imagination should find a relevant place in education. “Imagination is not a faculty separated from the mind, it’s rather the mind itself. ” Mind is one: using imagination is a modus operandi of the human mind, cognitive and creative skills belong to all Sapiens.
Young Sapiens, namely kids, naturally tend to think outside of the box and their attitude to problem solving is incredibly witty and frisky. All the rules of logic and physics can be broken to dive into magic worlds and dwell impossible realms. Creating fantastic narrations means embracing reality from new points of views and that simulates and trains reflective thinking. The most suitable candidates to inhabit the fantastic are all the creatures and things of Planet Earth: first of all the animals but also the plants, the mountains, the rivers, the wind and the rain.
The collective imagination of many cultures of the world, sees our relationship with the animals and the natural elements, as magic. Animals have always had distinctive features to protect, give strength and guide humans in their big adventure called Life. “Is there any difference between the primitive people giving word to the bear in the cave painting or the child giving word to his teddy bear? To make up stories is a serious thing, in the end “
Gianni Rodari
