The intent of this article is to describe the basic processes used by the child in order to create and imagine; to explain the significance of objects for encouraging creativity, imagination, and intellectual growth; and to show how creative thinking is nurtured using the world of objects. Five reasons are advanced to support the claim that the object world of the young child is fundamental to creative thinking and imagination. Four ways children may use objects (exploration, repetition, replication, and transformation) are described, and three basic elements of creative thought (internal reality, internal motivation, and internal control) are identified. It is argued that for adults to guide children's creative thought, they must understand and apply the basic elements of creative thought in the context of exploration, repetition, replication, and transformation. In conclusion, illustrations are provided of ways adults can facilitate children's creativity by encouraging these four uses of objects. (RH)