Rocket Talks: Why Imagination Is Essential, with Martin Allen Morales

Imagination is one of Rocket’s four values, but protecting it in contemporary childhood raises increasingly interesting questions. When Martin Allen Morales, CEO of the Institute of Imagination, joined Winsy Flores for Rocket Talks, the conversation moved across design, technology, culture and creative STEAM education. 

Martin’s inspiring experience across different creative industries offered a particularly useful perspective on how imagination develops, what sustains it and why children need opportunities to invent and experiment rather than encounter everything as finished content. Outdoor play, open-ended materials, digital experiences and artificial intelligence all entered the discussion. 

Rather than positioning technology as either a threat or a solution, the conversation considered what children need alongside it: physical experiences, social relationships, creative freedom and time to pursue ideas that adults may not have anticipated. By opening these questions to parents and educators, Rocket Talks helped extend the thinking behind Rocket’s classrooms into family life. It also invited a deceptively simple reflection: how often do children have the opportunity to make something nobody has already designed for them?

Do check the Institute of Imagination work!