Children's dreams play a key role in shaping personality, as they lay the foundation for life’s direction, future career choices, and the development of social responsibility.

Childhood Dreams: Laying the Foundation for Growth

Children's dreams play a key role in shaping personality, as they lay the foundation for life’s direction, future career choices, and the development of social responsibility. When a child dreams of becoming a hero or doing something important for society, an internal motivator is activated, and the child begins to intuitively understand which path to follow to achieve these goals. As stated in source link txt, “The boy strives to do something good, important, and socially significant. Yet his dreams are still entirely childish: the main thing is to be a hero, and what exactly and how will be seen later. A life plan… truly emerges only when one reflects not only on the final result but also on the means of achieving it, the path the person intends to take, and the objective and subjective resources that will be needed.” This clearly illustrates that a dream is the initial impulse allowing a child to consider not only the end result but also the process of reaching it—an important element in preparing for independent activity.

In addition, memories of a childhood free from life’s hardships create a positive emotional backdrop in which a child can freely dream, live, and play. This environment aids in the development of fundamental social attitudes, as it is through dreams and fairy-tale visions that a child perceives the world more vividly and positively. Supporting this view, source link txt notes: “Often, looking back, a person understands that certain family norms have long influenced his life. Childhood, under normal circumstances, is a very bright period… In childhood one freely dreams, lives, and plays…” Such uncorrupted, sincere dreaming helps the child learn to view life as an opportunity for experimentation, growth, and the self-directed exploration of various activities.

Thus, children's dreams contribute to learning, foster social attitudes, and prepare individuals for independent activity by stimulating the desire to explore the world, aiding in the development of life plans that consider both the desired end result and the necessary steps to achieve it, and providing the emotional foundation on which further personal and social development is built.

Supporting citation(s):
"— Or perhaps an experimenter of new parachutes, where many lives depend on your skills. Sometimes I am a surgeon performing a heart transplant on a dying person, or simply a doctor—a paramedic… I arrest a dangerous criminal, I save a burning field, I… This letter is quite typical. The boy strives to do something good, important, socially significant. Yet his dreams are still entirely childish: the main thing is to be a hero, and what exactly and how will be seen later. A life plan, in the true sense of the word, arises only when one reflects not only on the final result but also on the means of achieving it, the path the person intends to follow, and the objective and subjective resources that will be necessary. Unlike a dream, which can be both active and contemplative, a life plan is a plan of activity; therefore, it is primarily grounded in choosing a profession." (source: link txt)

"Often, looking back, a person realizes that certain norms adopted within the family have long determined his life. Childhood is usually a very bright period, because the child has not yet experienced heavy hardships and can dream and live in untested fantasies. Sure, injuries may occur, but memories of childhood remain so bright that one freely dreams, lives, and plays. The line between life and fairy tale, between dream and reality, is rather blurred. This is why a person may later recall childhood as a magical time, before having suffered any setbacks.

When students ask, 'Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?