“Where did he come up with that?” Kids often amaze us with their
imaginative ideas, and we should give ourselves a pat on the
back for playing a role in this development. Innovative thinking
is essential for success in school and in life, and it’s our job
as parents to nurture our kids’ innate desire to be creative.
Inventive play fosters original thinking, an asset when children
are confronted with new situations. By providing activities that
use their creativity and imaginations, we are giving our
children an important tool to deal with life down the road.
Give them ideas. Children come up with things to do on their
own, but we also need to provide them with new ideas of
interesting activities. Think back to what you did as a kid. Did
you write a diary, create elaborate puppet shows, or sing and
dance for relatives? Share ideas from your own childhood
experiences. Offer creative writing ideas like writing an
episode for a favorite television show or writing a new ending
to a favorite story. Craft projects offer another outlet for
inspiring imaginations. Craft kits, especially those from
Curiosity Kits and ALEX, offer a wide variety of unusual and fun
projects. They’ve brought us a long way from the sock puppets of
our youth. These manufacturers offer ideas and supplies to make
such things as scrapbooks, powerballs, soaps, candy, sun
catchers, dolls, planes, dinosaurs, jewelry treasures, and lots
of decorative items. Kids can gather ideas from the
instructions, and then give the projects their own unique
touches.
Keep ideas fresh. Pick up any parenting magazine and you’ll find
lots of ideas to get those creative juices flowing in your kids.
Search the web and check out craft stores. Keep a journal or
file for magazine clippings and ideas as you find them.
Stockpile so that you’ll know how to answer the whiny “I’m
bored” call from your kids.
Give them freedom. Once you’ve given your kids some suggestions
and supplies, step back and see which they choose and where they
go with them. This unstructured play time gives kids an
opportunity to stretch their creative muscles. Watch as they
incorporate your ideas and branch out on their own.
Set an example. Chances are, if you are a creative person, your
child will be too. You display creativity in your everyday
activities like when you reason with a disgruntled child, change
lyrics to songs, and maybe even do some interpretive dancing to
entertain a toddler. Your children see your silliness and it
rubs off on them. You surely use creativity to juggle your and
your family’s schedules. It’s a great idea to point out to your
kids how you use creativity in your daily life.
As parents, we always try to do the very best for our kids and
provide opportunities that will help them mature into
intelligent, capable adults. Nurturing their creative spirits
helps them along this road. With their well-developed
imaginations, maybe they’ll turn it into a yellow brick, pink
polka-dotted road with sparkles!
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