Sparking Creativity in Your Child
brajesh kumar
world of "weepals." There were one hundred sixty-four
of these fantasy creatures, each related to the others
in some way, and each with its own name, personality
and physical characteristics. She even designed
houses and furniture for them. Now, at the age of
twenty-three, Julia manages a real-life social system.
She coordinates the activities of several departments
in a law firm. Childhood creativity was a key
ingredient in Julia's grown-up success. In the same
way, the seemingly innocent, aimless activities that
your child engages in--making up funny songs,
inventing strange contraptions made of household odds
and ends, drawing crazy cartoons--may be instrumental
in helping to prepare the way for later
accomplishments.Childhood is a time of natural
creativity and curiosity. But while many people grow
up and lose this precious gift in the "reasonable"
world of adulthood, those who maintain a connection
with their creative self find a world of satisfaction
and richness that can't be measured. What can you do
to foster this vital capacity in your own kids?
1. Nourish your own creativity. If a child grows up
in a household where the adults around him suffer from
psychosclerosis (hardening of the mind), then he will
likely come down with a bad case of it, too. Share
with your child your own creations--poems, drawings,
stories, even ones from your own childhood,if you
still have them. Every day, vow to be a little bit
whimsical and spontaneous: Create a funny voice, make
up a silly dance, point out something around the house
or in the neighborhood that you hadn't noticed before.
Encourage new ways of seeing the world and novel ways
of doing conventional things.
2. Avoid judgments, criticisms and comparisons.
Evaluation kills creativity. If a child feels that
his creations will inevitably be subject to judgments
("You forgot to put a door on that house") or
comparisons ("Put more color in your drawings, like
your brother does"), he will either stop producing
altogether or will simply make what other people want
him to make. Uniqueness will be replaced by cliches.
3. Honor your child's individuality. Accept her
creations with an open mind, even if they seem flawed
or incomplete. Remember that the creative process is
an uneven one, consisting of dead ends,
misconceptions, errors and the occasional brilliant
flash of insight. By allowing the entire process to
occur unimpeded by your prejudices, you can honor your
child's creativity and make it that much easier for
her to find the right way to express herself.
4. Don't force her to do something. There are those
who prefer to package creativity and market it like a
new toy. But creativity can't be pushed and prodded.
In fact, pressure can cause creativity to go into a
permanent state of decline. Your child may go through
long periods of seeming stagnation only to burst
through with renewed vitality. Be patient!
5. Provide the resources they need. You can't be
creative in a vacuum: Children must be exposed to
materials and experiences that trigger ideas and
feelings. But remember, it doesn't take much to spark
a child's creativity--building blocks, a cardboard
box, a puppet, paper and crayons are often much better
than the latest superhero action figure or electronic
doll in encouraging creativity. Try the following
simple-to-do activities at home:
Invent-a-Machine. Give your child all boxes of
different sizes, glue, scissors, variety of buttons,
knobs, pipe cleaners, string and other household
items. Suggest he create his own machine or other
construction (older kids may want to add battery
operated bulbs and motors). bulletPencil Talk. Take
a large sheet of shelf paper, some pencils, markers or
crayons, and have a "conversation" with your child.
The catch: You can't talk; you have to draw what you
want to say. This might even turn into an ongoing
visual dialogue or a pictorial story lasting several
days. Ask everyone in the family to join in.
bulletMessing-Around Center. Set aside a special area
of the house (a corner of your child's room is a good
place) where can engage in unstructured creative
activities. Stock the area with art supplies, clay,
science-kit materials, building blocks, percussion
instruments, puppets, dress-up clothes.
bulletComposer's Corner. Has your child shown an
interest in music? You might buy or rent an
inexpensive piano or even an electronic keyboard. Set
up a corner where she can create her own melodies.
How about recording her songs or giving a concert for
the family? bulletLoonie Link-Ups. Invite your child
to cut out pictures from magazines, and then take five
or six unrelated pictures and make up a story that
links the pictures together in a continuous narrative.
Once you get things started, have your child tell his
own stories. bulletBig Box Blow-Out. Get a large
cardboard box from an appliance store and let your
child decide what he'd like it to be. A spaceship? A
house? A puppet theater? Let him paint or draw his
own designs on it. bulletRecord-O-Rama. Provide
your child with a tape recorder, camera or camcorder,
and let her create her own "stories" from the sounds
and sights she puts together. Give her the
opportunity (if she wishes) to present her production
to the family.bulletWorld-Making. Using figurines,
miniature buildings, plants, and other small shapes
and materials, your child can create little towns or
worlds; these can be set in a sandbox, on a sheet of
plywood, or in a quiet corner of a room. bulletSilly
Squiggles. Draw a simple abstract shape on a sheet of
paper and ask your child to make up different things
it could be (e.g., a straight line might be two ants
carrying a piece of string, etc.); have your child
create his own silly squiggles. bulletKookie
Questions. Ask your child whimsical questions that
evoke creative responses: What if everyone had an
extra eye in the back of his head? What if dogs could
talk? Invite her to create her own questions.
bulletTV Tales. Turn off a TV show (one that tells a
story) ten minutes before it ends, and take turns
making up your own endings to the plot (if you wish,
you can record the remaining segment and compare your
endings with those of the TV screenwriters).
bulletSmudge Sightings. Go outside and look at the
clouds, and together search for "pictures" in the
billowy shapes. Other places to look for images of
things: smudges on walls, scribbles on sheets of
paper, the bark of trees.
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