Imagination and maths

There was an edition of "The News Quiz" on BBC Radio 4 some years ago now which annoyed me. "The News Quiz" is a satirical programme, in which commedians make fun of the events and personalities involved in the week's news stories. However, in the course of this programme there was one story that got to me, such that I remember it to this day. A story was told about someone or other, who had once applied to Oxford University to study maths, but who had been rejected on the grounds that they didn't have the necessary imagination. The audience, led by Barry Took, the compere of the time, found this extremely funny. Now I suppose that I shouldn't have got annoyed that the mickey was taken during a programme of the nature of "The News Quiz", because that is what it does, and I was listening to hear other people and events being sent up, but I was upset to find that so many people failed to realise the importance of imagination in maths.
Many persons find maths boring, and I assume that these are the people who are not using their imaginations when faced with maths. If one doesn't use one's imagination, then naturally whatever it is that one is doing is going to be tedious. Cartoons on the TV stimulate children's imagination, and they are riveted by them, much more so than by live action. Similarly puppets stimulate childrens imaginations. This is why we at Puppet Maths use puppets to teach maths. If we can stimulate children's imaginations when they do maths, then they'll find it much more fun, they'll find it easier, they'll get the right answers more often, and they'll grow in confidence and ability, and they'll enjoy the subject rather than find it a confusing chore to do.