Children are prolific dreamers with good dream recall, and their dreams provide a rich source of information about their inner world and their personality development. With encouragement and the use of some imaginative techniques, parents can begin a journey of emotional understanding with their children. Your Child's Dreams will show you the way.
The first section is the Dream Finder, made up of twenty-four dreams related by children aged four to eleven years old. Each dream contains key questions, analysis and possible ways of using the dream to help nurture the child's personal development, encourage their creativity or simply have fun. The dreams cover a wide range of common themes and childhood issues and are grouped according to dream type: reality-based, positive development dreams; creative and fantastic dreams; and nightmares and problem dreams.
Next are eight 'dreamercises' - simple practical techniques that can increase self-confidence as the child develops their creativity and problem-solving skills. Each dreamercise is designed to meet a different dreaming need. The first five encourage creativity by providing ways in which your child can choose what they dream about; the next three deal with nightmares and will help you to open communication with a child who is struggling with a problem in their life. You will also learn to develop dreamercises according to your child's dream.
Following the dreamercises is a Dream Diary, divided into pages for use with four to seven year old's, and with ages eight and up. Here, your child may record their dream in words and/or pictures. Key questions are given as a guide.
Finally, there is a Dream Directory, giving the meanings of the most common symbols found in children's dreams.
Your Child's Dreams will inspire parents to delve into the meaning of their children's dreams. Encouraging your child to communicate with you about their dreams will aid their development and creativity, strengthen your parent-child bond and help solve - and prevent - childhood problems. Gradually, you will come to understand the imagery of your child's dreams and how it can be meaningfully interpreted to enrich your lives.
