Unleash Your Child’s Creativity

Children are blank slates when it comes to creativity. They have not been told the “rules” of the world, so they can use their imaginations and come up with a myriad ideas that we, as adults, have long forgotten about. Children who are allowed to use their imagination and explore their creative thoughts are more likely to do well in school and seem to be happier and more relaxed.

Read to Your Children

Read to your children. Tell them stories, and encourage them to help you create stories of your own. Read all types of literature from poetry to fairy tales to plays. Have them imagine the places they are reading and hearing about. Have them draw pictures that correspond to the stories. Children love to communicate and share the things that happen in their lives. Give your child a journal and a sketchpad, and have them draw or write about the things they do each day.

Encourage Them to Use Their Imagination

Encourage your children to use their imagination. If they can think it, they can draw it or write a story about it. Talk to your kids about the things that they like and provide them with opportunities to participate in activities they enjoy. This gives them a chance to learn as much as they can about the things they like. Participation broadens their horizons and lets them branch out even further into uncharted waters.

Offer Them Different Mediums

Once you have given them the opportunity to explore the things they like, offer them different mediums to use when it comes to expressing themselves. A few of them include:

• Crayons
• Colored pencils
• Charcoals and chalks
• Different types of paint
• Clay
• Woodworking tools
• Camera, etc.

When a child shows an interest in a particular medium or type of crafting tool, teach him or her as much as you can. Find a class for the child to participate in. Let the child know that it’s fine to learn things independently as well. Many of the world’s greatest artists were self-taught.

Allow Them to Explore Their Environment

Take your kids on nature hikes and visits to state parks and recreation areas. Go on a scavenger hunt to collect various items like pine cones, rocks, different types of leaves, shells or nuts. When you get home, identify what all of the objects are and then encourage the kids to create something new and unique with them.

Unleashing your children’s creativity is essential if you want your kids to grow and continue to strive to reach new goals. The great thing about being creative is the more they discover, the more they will create. The more they are allowed to create, the more intrigued they are by the world around them. Share the world with your kids, and you will begin to see things in a whole new perspective.