Perot to parents: Help kids develop their imaginations

Two-time presidential candidate and Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot is offering some parenting advice:

Keep your kids away from the TV. Give them some boxes to make forts. And let them have imaginary friends, Perot said.

Such activities stimulate the brain's synapses and boost creativity, which will do wonders later in life in the work place, he said.

Perot, a pioneer of the data processing industry, spoke at a ceremony in Bozeman, Mont., where he received a technology development award. The American Computer Museum of Bozeman presents the annual award.

Creative skills start at an early age, he said, so parents should encourage their kids to be imaginative.

"And just think, if you are not creative, you cannot do what these people did," Perot said, motioning to his fellow award winners. "They're wired."