A Little Glimpse Into Their World

I'm always so intrigued by The Ducklings' imaginations.  They do have individual make-believe worlds:  Colin, who diapers his trucks and puts them to bed, Evelyn and her dollies, and Keith and his books.  However, they also have a collective imaginary world.  I guess that's no surprise, given that they are with each other pretty much every waking minute of their day.  But the neat part is watching them collaborate to come up with the parameters, characters and stories that populate this collective world.  I love querying them about these elements - their creativity is boundless, and you can see them trying to fit all the pieces together based on their perceptions of the Big Person world.

One of the more persistent story-lines going at the moment revolves around The Volkswagon.  From what I can gather, this is a reference to an actual car.  Kikkamippa lives there, as does Baby Jack.  I'm not entirely sure what - or who - Kikkamippa is, but s/he/it plays an integral role, and is seen by everyone as a friend.  In this world, Keith is known as "The Baby".  He is very tolerant of Evelyn (aka "The Mommy")'s rather pointed directives, and goes around dutifully hold her hand, having his imaginary diaper changed, and snuggling under blankets while pretending to snore loudly.  Colin is known as "Piana".  He doesn't have the same interactive role as Keith, but he still likes to participate on his own terms.  Together, they fly different coloured helicopters and go to the grocery store.  There is also a lot of pretend applesauce involved, and numerous phone conversations with such a varied cast of characters as Blue Mercedes, Simon (my sister's dog), Jonathan (my parents' neighbour) and the occasional insect.  They have nonsensical songs that always send siblings into hysterics, and Keith will turn to one or the other at the table, shouting "Fuzzabazooee?", to which they either respond "yes" or "no", often in an exasperated tone.

There is a ton of laughter - and no small amount of squabbling, either - and it's such a strange feeling to be nothing more than a clueless spectator in this enormous part of their lives.  I believe that they've stretched their individual and collective imaginations precisely because they have a lot of unstructured play.  I try very hard not to interfere when they're playing - I am more than happy to observe.  With our on-going daily routine, preschool starting in the fall, and kindergarten the year after, they have plenty of adults telling them what to do; which makes this "golden age" even more sacred.  I love it!