Key Points:
- Creativity goes beyond choosing colors. It involves problem-solving, critical thinking, and applying knowledge.
- Creativity is ageless and can be acquired and fostered from early childhood.
- Fostering creativity in children can bring multiple benefits, including developing critical thinking, social skills, and confidence.
- Ideas for fostering creativity include practicing physical skills, enhancing their senses, pretend play, reading books, and getting artsy.
We commonly think about creativity as the colors someone chooses for a painting or a drawing. But being creative goes beyond just choosing colors, it’s also a way of thinking, solving problems, and applying knowledge. Learn how to foster your kid’s creativity!
Experts say creativity is ageless and timeless, but, more importantly, it can be acquired and fostered! From their earliest days, kids respond to contrasts, colors, sounds, and movements. How they integrate these various experiences will influence their development, especially in how they acquire their creativity.
What are the benefits of creativity?
When creativity is fostered in the early years it can bring tons of benefits, one of them is that it helps develop critical thinking, inspiring children to learn more and be more curious about the world, and helping them to cope in a better way with difficulties by making decisions.
Creativity also helps children to be more confident, develop social skills, and learn more. And it can be developed with the help of the parents, by giving the kid opportunities to play or have a good time using their imagination.
Ideas to boost your kid’s creativity
You can foster creativity at home in different ways. Here are a few things you should try with your little one:
1. Practice physical skills
By learning how to move, grasp objects, and other physical skills your little one will learn about the world, thereby promoting their cognitive development. This is one of the primary ways they will develop new ways of thinking, engaging, discovering, and solving problems.
What to do?
Playing with toys such as blocks, rings, cups, or even objects that make interesting sounds will ignite your child’s curiosity, and help with their motor skills.
2. Enhance their senses
When kids have diverse opportunities to explore through their senses, they view exploration as fun, and that helps them become even more creative later on.
What to do?
You can try different things like playing with textures, music, and even food! Thinking outside the box will be fun!
3. Pretend play
Allow your child an expressive outlet for their thoughts, feelings, wishes, and creativity with pretend play.
What to do?
Challenge your child’s new representational abilities: have them hop like a bunny, roar like a lion, or get more abstract and see if they can act as a kite or a balloon that’s too full and slowly lets all the air out!
4. Read books
Books will not only enhance your child’s language skills, but they will also help them discover new worlds and boost your kid’s creativity!
What to do?
Try to make a habit out of reading by including it in your daily routine, even if it’s just a few minutes. A great thing to do is getting used to reading a bedtime story. Choose books with creative plots so that your child’s imagination flourishes.
5. Get artsy
Art is one the simplest (and more fun) ways to let your kid’s creativity and imagination flow. It is important to give your little one free reign over their work. That way, they can be more creative!
What to do?
Let your little one’s imagination go wild. Try painting, drawing, building, and even sculpting with playdough! Don’t force them to do things in a certain way, instead let them explore and play freely.
