I’m not sure why. I did read that highly intelligent children often create elaborate pretend worlds with detailed rules, structures, characters, maps, etc etc. It was very thought provoking! My older DD does this and my younger one goes along with it but always gets frustrated & annoyed.

Does the other 3yo have an older sibling? That could play a factor, too.

Montessori actively discourages kids from pretending.

Probably a mix of nature and nurture.

Screens foster creativity: movies, shows, etc.

Barbies and other dolls foster creativity. Ditto for dress ups and tea sets and pirate swords.

Musicals and music in general foster creativity.

Building pillow forts and playhouses foster creativity.

I agree with PPs that it’s largely innate (say 75%); but Montessori doesn’t encourage creativity or free play at all, so if that’s something you value, Montessori is not the way to get there. (I love Montessori for the right kid; creativity just isn’t its strength. That said, if your kid isn’t creative, she may do well in Montessori precisely because it doesn’t push her in that direction... but she’s also unlikely to develop good creative skills.)

Anonymous wrote:Montessori does not value fantasy and imaginative play. It is not something they encourage.

PP from above: my extremely imaginative kid still finds ways to use his imagination in Montessori and it is encouraged.

Montessori does not value fantasy and imaginative play. It is not something they encourage.

Anonymous wrote:They were given the gift of boredom and free play time?

Not in my case. Although I don’t know that I’ve ever in my life felt “bored”, all I had as a child was free play time and I still have a limited imagination but thrive in analysis and science.

It’s an innate personality trait, OP. We do all the same things that you do including the Montessori school and DS is amazingly imaginative so it’s not about your child’s upbringing.

I have to initiate foster reality-based play with my son which he enjoys with guidance so maybe you could do the same with imaginative play.

They were given the gift of boredom and free play time?

It’s just a different kind of intelligence. We all have different talents and there are needs and uses for them all.

Anonymous wrote:My mother will tell you I was not good at pretending as a child. As an adult, I hate coming up with original ideas. I am terrific at executing and editing and perfecting, but my weakness is creative originality.

And I'm the opposite. I can dream up new ideas and creative solutions to problems all day, but I have a hard time with the execution or follow-through.

It's different gifts, OP.

My mother will tell you I was not good at pretending as a child. As an adult, I hate coming up with original ideas. I am terrific at executing and editing and perfecting, but my weakness is creative originality.

Anonymous wrote:I have one 3yr old DD, she goes to a wonderful Montessori school, and we practice many Montessori philosophies at home. We don’t do screens, we do tons of hands on sensory activities, we read so many books( which she loves) and yet my friends 3yr old DD is way better at “playing” then mine. They don’t have screen restrictions, have tons of plastic loud toys, but yet somehow her DD does not jump from one activity to another, and can come up these elaborate play scenarios that my DD can’t follow. I know this has nothing to do with intelligence, I’m just shocked at how creative her child is compared to mine.

OP, I think it's an innate personality thing that has nothing to do with the schools or the Montessori approach. One of my DCs is, was and always has been the most creative, imaginative kid I've ever known. He was the one with imaginary friends at the age of 3-4, loved to read adventure books from earliest days, and always made up his own games and ways of playing them. He's now in high school and is a terrific creative writer. My other DC could not care less about any of this. He likes to work with his hands, learns by doing rather than reading, and is a very practical kid who stares at his brother sometimes in utter confusion over the yarns he spins.

They have both been that way from Day One, despite being raised in the same house, by the same parents and going to the same schools.

I have one 3yr old DD, she goes to a wonderful Montessori school, and we practice many Montessori philosophies at home. We don’t do screens, we do tons of hands on sensory activities, we read so many books( which she loves) and yet my friends 3yr old DD is way better at “playing” then mine. They don’t have screen restrictions, have tons of plastic loud toys, but yet somehow her DD does not jump from one activity to another, and can come up these elaborate play scenarios that my DD can’t follow. I know this has nothing to do with intelligence, I’m just shocked at how creative her child is compared to mine.