Do you remember a time as a child when your imagination took you to new places? Maybe you played out a story about finding a buried treasure in a world of pirates. Maybe you ran around as a wild horse during recess with your friends. Even if your childhood adventures feel rather distant, there’s a good chance that you see an abundance of creativity in your child. Creativity is all around us, and although it might look a little different in adulthood, it’s certainly an incredibly important skill to nurture in yourself and your growing little one.
A Spark of Creativity
What is creativity? At its root, creativity is a process where you explore various mediums to create unique ideas. When we think of creativity, the realms of art, music, and writing come to mind, but it can be found in any task that uses original ideas. These original ideas that come from creativity are often surprising, if even in a small way. There’s a certain charm to creativity, but since it can be used in so many areas of life, you know that it’s an important and valuable skill to encourage. Creativity for kids is so much more than meets the eye.
Creativity Takes You Further
Creativity has so much to do with individual thought. A child allowed to explore the world creatively gets a developmental boost in many areas like social skills, attention span, sensory perception, and problem-solving skills. Besides, many problems we face day-to-day do require a certain level of creativity to be solved. It’s no wonder that our original ideas can take solutions further and to new places. Not only that, but creative practices reduce stress, improve mood, increase emotional intelligence, and enhance self-expression and individuality. Since it has a positive emotional effect, kids who have experience with traumatic events will be better able to cope with help from creative expression. It can give kids a way to better connect with the world and release strong emotions and feelings.
Every Day is a Creative Play Kind of Day
Can you do creativity wrong? No way! This is a time to explore, not put pressure on forming creative ideas. They will come! Just like in life, creativity is often about the journey, not necessarily the destination. Play is a great way to get the creative juices flowing for your kiddo. And by the way, this all goes for adults too! Anybody can take advantage of creative thinking and play. All you need is an open mind, something that you’re interested in, and boom! Creative thoughts might just come pouring in for you. At home for your kiddo, you might consider these items in order to encourage creativity at home.
Make a Mess!
Don’t be afraid to get a little messy. Messes are not only great for development as a whole, but your child’s creativity can thrive when they are exploring the world in such a hands-on way.
Ask Open-ended Questions.
Add a little creativity to conversations. Asking open-ended questions to your child when possible will allow them to work through stories and solutions on their own, thus creating their own original thoughts.
Allow Time for Unstructured Play.
Schedule this in too! Make this time a non-negotiable time. Unstructured play involves allowing your child to engage in an activity of their own choosing. It’s an activity that has no rules or guidelines other than having fun. This could be an artistic pursuit or playing with action figures outdoors. Structured play can also provide creative benefits, but unstructured play can really help encourage free thought. Plus, it can feel very freeing to explore and think in your own way.
Give Choices.
You might be surprised to know that kids who are offered more choices, tend to show more creativity. Whenever a choice can be given to your child, allow them a little freedom to choose.
Display Art Work and Show Positivity About Creative Efforts.
A simple, yet effective way to foster a creative mindset in the home is to remind your child how much you love their unique ideas. Display drawings, pieces of writing, or whatever other physical creative copies they have available. Showing positivity about their efforts will help keep them going with those original ideas well into adulthood.
While creativity can boost things like gross motor skills, fine motor skills, attention span, social skills, and more, there are times when your kiddo might just need more help improving these. That’s where physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy could come in to help. Contact us today for more information about setting up an appointment.
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