I have come to find that my greatest challenge in the playroom is keeping up with Nate’s big imagination. Nathaniel reminds me of Max from the children’s book, Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. When things don’t go Max’s way and he gets sent to bed without any supper, he chooses to escape to a wonderful new world that is sparked by his imagination. In this world he meets some very unusual creatures that he has to defeat. After Max stares into the eyes of the monsters and blinks once, he conquers this new land and becomes the King of all the wild things. When Max feels lonely he decides to go back home only to find that his dinner is still hot!

Nathaniel has a huge advantage over Max, because Nate gets to go to this wonderful place every day in the playroom. He uses this incredible creativity to escape from his surroundings, and with it discovers new games and adventures in every session. His amazing imagination takes his volunteers to the extraordinary worlds that he creates. Anything can happen when we step into that room, and when we go together it makes it much more fun! One day we might furnish the whole floor with a ‘carpet’ made out of random blankets, and the next day we might spin like a giant tornado for hours on end. Letting our imaginations run wild anything can happen, and the progress we make when we are being creative is amazing.