Contrary to what people think, creativity is not in-born in every child. It has more to do with skill rather than talent, which means that methods are present to develop creative skill. Parents can even try some of these activities and methods to effectively instill creativity in their child:
1. Make your home the heart of creativity
By making a place in your home specifically a place for creativity, your child will be more likely to play in the creative area. Not only is your home a creative space, but it should have a creative atmosphere as well. You can start by asking what your children want to do for the weekend. Encourage them to do things they’ve never done before but don’t point out which ones are impossible or the best to be done. The creative process is the focus of this activity.
Activity: Fish Bank BackDrop
If you have a fish bowl or a fish tank at home, you can organise a scenery drawing competition for them and the winner gets to paste his creation at the back of the tank. When viewed from the front, the fish now seems to be swimming against this backdrop.
2. Give your kids the freedom and autonomy to explore their ideas and do what they want.
It is natural that parents worry about their child, which results into helicopter parents. Even so, it is important for parents not to limit their children excessively. Forbidding them to do many activities will indirectly affect their creativity and will make the child more likely to ‘color within the lines’ compared to those who freely explore their surroundings.
Activity: Quick and Easy Finger Paint
Use on paper or the bath-tub. To make the paint, dissolve one packet of instant gelatin in 1/4 cup hot water and let it remain for 10 minutes. Combine 1/2 cup cornstarch, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 3/4 cups cold water in a saucepan, and stir until cloudy and smooth. Cook the cornstarch mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until thick.
Reduce heat, add the gelatin mixture and 1/4 cup mild, liquid dishwashing soap, and stir until smooth. Allow to cool. Divide equal parts of the mixture into small bowls. Add several drops of different food coloring to each (light colors are easier to clean). Store the paints in airtight jars. Let kids finger-paint the sides of the tub.
3. Encourage children to read for pleasure and participate in the arts.
It is common that a child’s favorite activity includes watching television, but allowing them to do it continuously will only stagnate their development. Instead, why don’t they do various activities related to the arts? They will be able to practice communication and increase their creativity at the same time. Various activities can be done such as plays, fashion shows or even music shows.
Activity: Dress up Competition
You and your kids can play dress-up. Place old discarded clothes in a suitcase and organise a dress-up among your kids, with a prize for the most creatively dressed one. We suggest you be ready with a loaded camera to record your kid’s creativity.
4. Give children the opportunity to express their opinion freely.
Similarly to limiting their activities, limiting their thinking and their exploration and their mind will only limit their creativity. In fact, let them have their own thoughts and even disagree with you. As an exercise, you can present them with a problem. Let them think of a way to solve the problem, then ask them to think of another way to solve the problem than the one they just thought of.
Activity: Fort Building and Escaping Lava Alligators
Let your child build a fort in the middle of the room using blankets, pillows or card boards. They must pretend that the floor has lava which they must escape from. Extra pillows and cushions are used as ‘Lava Alligators’ which will help them escape without ‘getting burned’ by the lava on the floor.
5. Help kids activate all of their senses
As an adult would, exploring their surroundings will immediately inspire and therefore help them become more creative. For a child, stimulating their different senses are enough to trigger their creativity. In particular, every growth experienced by the child will affect them later on when they are grown up. The more their senses are explored, the more they will understand the world around them.
Activity: Cucumber in a bottle
First make a sampler to show them on your own. They’ll wonder how you managed to squeeze that great big vegetable through that skinny little bottleneck. Take a packet of cucumber and sow them in small pots, 4 to 5 per pot. When the seedlings are about 3 inches high, thin to 2 to 3 plants per pots. Make sure they receive at least an inch of water a week.
After the first yellow blossoms have appeared, start searching for tiny young cucumbers. Choose one at the bottom of the plant. Gently slip the bottle over the baby cucumber. Save the bottle cap and, for best results, shade the bottle slightly with a sheet of newspaper. Once the cucumber reaches a suitably impressive size, snip it off the vine and fill the bottle with vinegar.
These are only several effective activities that you can do with your child. But surely these activities can increase their creativity as well as challenge the child. Which one seems interesting for you to try with your child? Give us your comments down below!
