Could watching Harry Potter make kids more creative?

Researchers explained that believing in supernatural events, such as animals speaking or a witch flying a broomstick, involves the ability to construct an alternative world, and that most children aged 4 to 6 think magically in everyday life.

“Magical thinking enables children to create fantastic imaginary worlds, and in this way enhances children’s capacity to view the world and act upon it from multiple perspectives,” said researchers.

The study involved 52 children aged 4 to 6 and 64 kids aged 6 to 8. They were split into two groups and shown two 15-minutes clips from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The first group saw ‘magical’ scenes with characters performing spells with wands and flying on broomsticks. The second group was shown clips with the same characters but without any magic.

After the screening, the children were given a series of creative tasks, including role-play, drawing non-existent objects and thinking of alternative uses for a plastic cup. The study found that children in the first group (who watched the magical scenes) were more imaginative during the tasks than those in the second group.

If all this research proves to be true Coleen and Wayne Rooney could have one imaginative kid on their hands!

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