From the Imagination of Finley Grace, Age 2.

If there was one word I would use to describe my Finley, it would have to be imaginative. This girl can play pretend like no other!

With my Shaun, games of pretend and elaborate imaginary scenes weren't even on his radar. Like many kids on the spectrum, pretend play did not come easy to him- and still doesn't. Instead, he focused on more concrete things- things he could see and touch. Things like his trains, his reading and his logos. Perhaps that makes Miss Finley's imaginary adventures all the more exciting for me as a mom to watch. Just take a look at some of the scenarios she comes up with at just shy of 2.5 years old:

• During bathtime, she is always a mermaid. She often uses her magical powers to create a floating TV in the air, where she watches her favorites-like Wall-E.
• She loves cats and dogs (mostly cats) and always pretends to be one of the other. She will make animal noises, crawl on her hands and knees and only answer to 'cat' or 'dog'. If mealtime should happen to fall among those animal playtime, she won't eat unless you tell her its pet food.
• She wears imaginary gowns. Now, Finley actually has quite the dress-up collection already, but it's made larger by her vivid imagination. If she doesn't actually have the type of dress she's looking for- she'll make it up. She'll wear her invisible pink sparkle dress with pride, and even completes the outfit with invisible shoes, tiaras and jewelry!
• She decorates imaginary Christmas trees. Yes, Christmas may be over, but she's still crazy for it! Our real tree may be down, but she keeps the spirit alive with her own! She even has invisible presents that she loves to unwrap and give too!
• She opens surprise eggs. Now, if you have a little one that is into these- you know just how crazy kids can go for them. While she will often create her own Playdoh surprise eggs with actual toys too, if those aren't available, she'll just pull them out of thin air. Her imaginary surprise eggs tend to be filled with Barbies and Shopkins. 
• She goes to school. If her sleeping bag is available, she will wear that as a backpack, otherwise it's again all in her mind. She will say, 'Going to school! Love you, bye!' and walk to her 'bus'. Not to be ordinary, her personal school bus is Let It Go Blue- as is the school itself she says!
• She loves to drive. She will get in her car, buckle her seat belt and make all the driving motions perfectly. This one is particularly funny to me- being rear facing still, she does not actually see anyone drive firsthand, yet she does so quite perfectly!
• She has an imaginary Humpty Dumpty. He falls quite often, but thankfully she is there to fix him all up with her ice powers.
• She loves pretending it's raining or snowing. In the rain, she will splash in puddles. The snow is her favorite though- she'll build snowmen and start snowball fights too! If she should get tired of the rain, she will just use her ice powers to turn it into snow!
• She will buy ice cream- pulling 'dollars' out of her pockets, in exchange for an ice cream cone. She will of course then eat the cone, though on occasion they do fall on the ground. If this happens, she will either use her ice powers to fix it- or lick it up anyway!

These are just a few of the many scenarios that she comes up with each and every day! She is ALWAYS pretending something, and always keeping me guessing. And I love it! It helps make keeping her entertained that much easier! Can't find a toy she wants to play with? We'll just make one up!

In a way, she's also teaching her big brother about playing pretend too. Now, I will say that most of the time when she starts in with one of her little play scenarios he gets very frustrated insisting that none of this is real, and reminding us he doesn't like pretend... but on other rare occasions he will join right in and toss an imaginary snowball at her too!

Do you have a little one with a big imagination? I'd love to hear all about their pretend adventures in the comments! Have a child that's NOT into pretend play? Stay tuned- I'll be sharing tips to help encourage creativity and imagination soon!