20 Ways to Encourage your Child’s Creativity by Tina Nocera

The following piece is written by Tina Nocera (http://www.parentalwisdom.com/) & publish on http://www.goalfree.com/ the resourceful website of Stephen M. Shapiro, author of Goal-Free Living.

1. Give young children a tape recorder so they can capture their ideas.

2. Change your normal mode of transportation. If you usually drive, occasionally take a bus or train.

3. Grow a garden with your child. Even a windowsill garden can be fun.

4. Give older children an ‘idea journal’ which can be as inexpensive as a 59¢ composition notebook.

5. Take nature walks and see what your child sees; you’ll be amazed at his powers of observation.

6. Discuss new discoveries over dinner and ask your children how they would use them.

7. Toss out a problem and ask them how they would solve it; don’t limit the problems to those you think they could solve. They may surprise you.

8. Start a story and let the children finish it.

9. Limit noise, video games, and computer time.

10. Play games with your children and read to them.

11. Ask your children to explain what they have created; don’t assume you know what it is.
12. Let them do it for themselves; we know you can color.

13. Give your children supplies and materials you find around the house. Resist the urge to buy craft kits.

14. Let your children find their own ‘right way’ in art. Don’t insist that it is done your way.

15. Appreciate your child’s individuality. Resist temptations to compare children. It’s a subtle message to conform.

16. Encourage curiosity.

17. Answer their questions. If you don’t know the answer, tell them you need time before answering.

18. Give your child time to daydream, think, and play. This gives them the opportunity to come up with ideas of their own.

19. Have creativity be its own reward. When our children do something, we have to encourage them to simply enjoy doing it rather than the competition or the reward. We are too quick to give stickers, ribbons, and trophies for anything. All this does is promote the external value rather than instilling a pleasure for learning.

20. Encourage your children to try new things. This is the best way to learn. Resolve yourself to understanding that your child won’t always be successful, but we still have to try and even encourage mistakes and failures.