My son and his odd imagination habit

Hello, I would like to bring up a strange habit that my 10 year old son has and get some opinions on it. I am the boy's father.

This is very hard to describe so bear with me. I noticed a couple years ago that when my son would be playing by himself, he would begin acting out his imagination to himself. Basically what he does is lays down on his back and makes movements with his hands and makes various noises with his mouth and talks as different characters. I can recognize things like car noises, explosions, similar. He is very self-conscious about it and will stop and pretend like he wasn't doing anything if he notices someone nearby. Sometimes it seems like it's almost a trance, as if he is completely inside his mind acting out a situation. He doesn't use props like action figures or anything, it's just him and his mind. As far as I know, he does this quite regularly. Perhaps not every day but probably several times a week.

I have never been too concerned about it but I "caught" him today and it made me a bit curious if this is a normal thing. I've always wrote it off as him having a very intense imagination, almost being a good thing. It is certainly a bit odd though so I'd like to see what other people think of it.

A general profile of my son would be that he is shy at times though he does have friends who he hangs out with regularly on weekends and such. He has high anxiety too but I think a lot of kids struggle with anxiety these days, especially when it comes to social situations at such an awkward age. He is not on any medications or anything like that, he performs decently in school. He is very bright and thoughtful/imaginative though he has trouble getting homework done (he's a procrastinator like me )

I'm a strong believer in nurturing our childrens imagination. As you say, he does ok in school and does have regular friends...so don't worry about it

it seems from whast you've told us that he has no trouble with living in the 'real' world as well. in my opinion if he's content and functioning normally in his every day life there is no worry.

Very well then, these were the answers I expected. I will continue to let him act out his dream world

I used to do this a lot when I was a kid. Heck, my imagination is still running wild 24/7. The only difference is now, whenever my mind is free, I'm imaging whole storylike scenarios. Elaborateish fantasy stories that can persist for days until I get bored with that one and switch.

So you know I'm not crazy I got a 33ACT and I have wonderful grades. I'm even in a fraternity (vice president) and on a sports team in college (varsity captain) so I consider myself well adjusted.

At that age I think imagination is a great tool to have fun no matter what's around you. As you grow older it becomes something you do when bored. I may be biased, but I think some people just want to occupy their heads because just going through life isn't engaging enough to them. If this persists in you son to a later age I would find a way to see if he is being challenged in school. Teachers often take a bored child as distracted, insubordinate, or unable to pay attention.

I think you've probably got a little artist on your hands. I refused to play with other kids during my primary school years...I was content completely in my imagination. I think it's a great thing to see a child that's not dependent on constant video games to be entertained.

I also see where the worry comes in too. If the imaginary friends are around when it's not playtime and start interrupting normal social functions, that is something to get checked out.

Right now it just sounds like his world is just more fun then ours.