With the help of a frilly dress, tiara, and magic wand, your
3-year-old is transformed into the queen of a magical universe
where her hobby horse is a winged unicorn. When you're asked to
taste the pink clouds, you agree that they're a lot like
bubblegum. Your son pulls a sheet over his shoulders and runs as
fast as he can across the lawn. The air lifts the fabric; your
boy's legs leap into the air. "I'm flying, mommy!" the 4-year-
old says. He's a superhero, out to save the backyard from
dragons lurking behind the bushes and find treasure buried in
the sandbox. Parents of preschoolers have a front row seat to
some of the most imaginative theater ever produced. These are
the so-called "magic years" — when a child's brain is developed
enough to imagine grand stories but not yet complex enough to
reason the way adults do and ask, "But can that really happen?"
Here's why imagination is so important and what you can do to
foster these magic years. How Preschoolers View the World
There's a lot that very young child