How difficult is it for a child to think outside of the box without being told what to do? Is it his work or is it the teacher's work?

As Socrates puts his method into view; questioning, thinking, expressing, and arguing comes to mind in my opinion as in experiences.  I encourage experiences that children encounter in the classroom by means of thinking and allowing children to explore the unknown.  What will really happen if a child continuously pours sand outside of the sandbox?  Will he think about scooping and putting it all back into the sandbox?  Will he pour out all the sand until there is no more in the sandbox?  Or will he stop and think that he needs to keep the sand in the sandbox as he is told by his teacher.  We don't exactly know why do we.  I think about this everyday when a child is pouring sand out of the sandbox. 

Socrates also states that the more thought we put into our discussion, more questions and answers will be fulfilled.  More thought can be developed into imagination, ones imagination comes from personal experiences.  If children are given opportunities to imagine and explore maybe then our thought processes will click.  For example, the child who pours sand out of the sandbox could be building a pyramid as he sees this big mound of sand to develop.  If a child is safe, should he be able to imagine and explore?  Yes, but then there are rules.  Socrates says express and argue, give your point of view.