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As a parent, you know that it is your job to help your children grow and prosper. The first few years of a child’s life can have a huge impact on the person they grow up to be. Allowing them the freedom to express themselves during this time is very important. Being creative is right up there with academics, especially if you suspect they have a creative streak.
It may take some guidance, as a parent and as their adult role model, to bring this streak out and help them channel it in a positive way. Here are some easy ways you can help foster creativity in your child and set them up for (hopefully) great things to come.
Set A Good Example
Children learn by example, and kids that grow up with creative and arty parents are far more likely to grow up to be creative themselves. Children want to be just like their parents and copy everything they do. This includes activities and hobbies. By letting your child sit in on any of your own creative ventures you are much more likely to see them show an interest in the arts.
If you love to paint, practice your art in the home where your child can see it and display it there too. Let them help and participate in any way they can. Your child will grow up with your art being one of their first memories, which is almost guaranteed to entrench a sense of creativity in them.
Limit Screen Time
Watching television and using devices such as tablets and phones are great ways to keep children entertained. They also help them to connect with their peers and long distance family members. But too much time in front of a screen can easily kill off creativity.
Why? Well, TV and social media can often be quite mindless. Meaning that when we are binge-watching Netflix or scrolling aimlessly through Facebook, our minds are not fully engaged. This constant stimulation from digital content can mean that children’s brains don’t develop to think independently and critically. Something we desperately want them to do. So try and limit the amount of time your kids spend in front of their devices, no matter how much of a fight they put up. It’ll be better for them in the long run.
Provide Them With The Creativity Resources They Need
Your child may already have a naturally creative mind, but they will never know this unless you give them a chance to dive into it. Try not to worry too much about the inevitable mess they will make. As long as nothing permanently stains and your child knows how to put things back where they got them from, a little messy play should be encouraged!
Consider investing in some wholesale craft supplies, so your kids have a whole hoard of different things to choose from when the moment strikes. It’s not just about physical items either. Over dinner, talk creatively with your children and encourage them to share their own ideas and plans for the future. An open discussion will only further fuel their creativity and always remember that there is no wrong answer!
Krystle Cook – the creator of Home Jobs by MOM – put her psychology degree on a shelf and dived into a pile of diapers and dishes instead. She is a wife and mother to two rambunctious boys, sweating it out in her Texas hometown. She loves cooking, DIY home projects, and family fun activities.
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