Teaching your kids to be more creative is a worthwhile endeavor. But just how do you go about doing it? In the current issue of Natural Awakenings, children’s author and father of five, T.A. Barron offers the top ten important things parents and teachers can do to encourage creativity in a child.
(1) Set a good example by being creative yourself. This includes reading, singing, painting, writing stories and poems and even, howling like a wolf!
(2) Reading aloud, being sure to select from a variety of genre’s including folklore, humor, mystery, etc.
(3) Make your home a creative environment by providing your child with materials that foster creativity. This includes puzzles, modeling clay, old magazines and building blocks. You should also have on hand a variety of “how-to” books. They can range from orgami and puppet making to cookbooks and quiltmaking.
(4) Encourage your child’s creativity by listening to and supporting their ideas and projects and by not being judgmental.
(5) Record ideas and experiences through drawing, painting or journal keeping.
(6) Turn off the television!
(7) Spend time outdoors connecting with nature.
(8) Find inspiration by talking about such diverse and creative people as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Anne Frank and Socrates.
(9) One way to allow time for creative endeavors is to not overschedule our kids. Allow plenty of time for unstructured play and for dreaming.
(10) Realize that creativity is a way of life and not just a set of learned skills and that it is a valuable asset to have.
Many of the suggestions Barron offers I am already doing (and you probably are as well) so I feel I am well on my way to fostering creativity in Tyler. What I liked about his suggestions is that they are so simple and many cost nothing but a little bit of your time. In exchange you just might raise the next Einstein, or Mozart or Gandhi. You just never know.