Is there such a thing as a too-imaginative kid? Parenting experts say no. Dr. Paul Harris, professor of education at Harvard and author of The Work of the Imagination, says that kids’ active imaginations are “essentially positive” and represent cognitive work, the way that children make sense of the world. 
But if you’ve got a kid who prefers her imaginary friend to making real ones— or who terrorizes the first grade by explaining how zombies can get into one’s home through the radiator— you might still wonder whether there comes a time to tamp it all down and force our kids to deal with reality. 
In this episode we talk about 

the considerable upsides of a huge imagination 

why some children have imaginary friends 

why some kids engage in “worldplay” for their imaginary worlds long after the other kids have moved on 

how to help anxious kids whose imaginations can become overly active 

how to encourage kids to engage in more imaginative play 


And here’s links to the books, articles, and research we discuss in this episode: 
Lauren Child's Charlie and Lola book series, featuring the kind-of-visible Soren Lorensen
Louise Fitzhugh: Harriet the Spy
Dr. Robin Alter: The Role of Imagination in Children with Anxiety
Paul L. Harris, The Work of the Imagination
Joshua A. Krisch for Fatherly: Brilliant Kids Visit (and Create) Imaginary Worlds
Michelle Root-Bernstein: The Creation of Imaginary Worlds
Marjorie Taylor: Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them
Deena Skolnik Weissberg: Distinguishing Imagination From Reality
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