Children these days seem to be born smart, but without the right supervision and direction, they might not unearth their gifts. It is, therefore, up to the parent to create an enabling environment for them to discover and use their powerful imagination the best way possible. There are a few ways that you can encourage your little ones to be more creative, and here are four of them.
Provide the resources
It will be quite challenging for your kids to be creative if they don’t have tools and materials to do so. Invest in resources that can enable them to express themselves and be proud of what they accomplished, and you’ll see impressive improvements. There are tangible resources like books, costumes, and art supplies that will help them bring their imagination to life. Studentreasures Publishing, for example, has a collection of worksheets that help students brainstorm, write, and edit stories. Other things you can give them are time and space to be their most creative selves.
Try not to be bossy
After you’ve given your child the resources, it can become very tempting to control or manage how they use them. Try as much as possible to resist this urge so that they can build the innate desire to be creative. Too much interference can hinder independent thinking, which might affect the quality of their creative process. So next time you’re itching to hover, decide against it in the best interest of your little ones.
Agree to disagree
In addition to allowing autonomy when your kids are creative, you should also make an effort not to force the ‘right’ method of doing things down their throat. Remember that they may make mistakes along the way and disagree with you on how to do something. It’s okay for that to happen, and it only allows them to learn from their mistakes and become better. If you think about it this way, you allow your children to find the many ways to solve one problem, which helps them become proactive and forward-thinking. Please encourage them to think in many different ways or to be divergent in their thinking to foster open-mindedness as well.
Pay attention to their process rather than results
When you focus too much on the product and not process, you might be teaching your child that the latter does not matter when, in fact, it does. The creative process is essential because that is where all the learning actually happens. So instead of asking what they achieved, ask about how they did it, what they enjoyed about doing it, and how much fun they had. This will teach your kids to love and appreciate their process and not be in a rush to achieve results.
The bottom line is that encouraging creativity in children is excellent because it helps to bring out the best in them. With these four tips, you can possibly harness the imagination that kids have to help them become more confident in themselves.
What are your thoughts? Please share in the comments below. I really would love to know.
Until next time, shine amongst the stars!
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