Nurturing Creativity in Children: Part 1

I am going to spend a few days discussing  what parents can do to nurture creativity in their children.  I think we are all more or less "born with" our own unique amount and variety of creative gifts. However, it is obvious that children are much more creative than the average adult. Children have more leisure time and more opportunities for creative moments. Children also have more courage in expressing their creativity and place more emphasis on the process, as opposed to focusing merely on the end product. As parents, we need to utilize this valuable stage in our children's lives. The atmosphere in our homes can either encourage children to continue in life-long creativity, or it can cause them to neglect the expression of their unique gifts and  perspectives as they become older. Over the next few posts, I hope to provide you with some tips that will enable you to draw out and encourage your children to thrive as they think and express themselves in creative ways. Let's get started!

*Provide children with abundant down-time.  When I was in high school I read David Elkind's book, book The Hurried Child for an education class. Even at the tender age of 17, with my very limited experience with children, I could see that his words were true.  Children cannot flourish when they are hurried to grow-up quickly, or when they are hurried from place to place throughout the day.  If children are going to develop their creative gifts they need leisure time. Not time-in-front-of-a-screen leisure time, but hours on a back yard swing or unstructured time in the playroom to putter around...thinking and playing time! My youngest daughter spends her free time in the afternoon dressing up like historical figures. Breakfast conversation often centers around who she is going to pretend to be today.  Harriet Tubman, Annie Oakley,Corrie Ten Boon, an immigrant from Russia, an Amish girl, and many more, have been researched on the Internet or in books with mom at the start of her play time. Closets are raided, dress up boxes are emptied, opinions are gathered, and then...the historical figure appears and heads off to the backyard for her adventures. I never would have thought to have her do this. It was the product of her having time alone and needing to figure out what to do with herself. In developing our children's creativity, we are teaching them to be boredom-busters!

This type of down-time is not something that creative people out-grow. Creative moms can become instantly energized after a few creative moments, either alone or with their children. And the gift of time to explore, think, and develop creative skills is of great value to our teenagers as they transition into adulthood. My oldest son, who spend many childhood hours creating elaborate stories to "play out" with Legos, unwinds from a long day by puttering around with his filming equipment, or building a new kind of tripod he read about in the Internet. My teenage daughter Peace developed her love for photography by spending time  (hours and hours this summer!) wandering around our backyard, photographing things I had never even noticed. It may have looked like she was wasting her time and being quite unproductive, but she was learning, experimenting, and creating. She was learning how to be busy and content at home, and how to bring joy to others by sharing her gifts. This creative process would never have occurred if we had been spending our afternoons running around to various activities and lessons. Whatever your children's age, do not neglect the importance of down time!

*Arts, not crafts. As I mentioned above, a creative mom can gain a great amount of energy from doing creative projects alongside her children. I love getting out the easel and painting with my younger children.  I am in no way a painter, but there is something about all those lovely colors and a preschooler's excitement that gives me a whole new perspective on my day.  However, as we seek creative projects to do with our children, a distinction must be made between an art and a craft. An art is open ended, a "here are your supplies, see what you can do" sort of thing.  Even if you are doing something like a sewing project that has a pattern, let them choose the fabric combinations, the buttons the thread colors, the type of stitch...this is the creative part of the project. Step-by-step projects that produce identical results may have their value, but they do not develop creativity.

More to come...have a great day being creative with you family!
Join me at the Hearts 4 Home Link-up and Ramblings of a Christian Mom Thursday(Almost Friday!) Blog Hop!!
Check out the Amazon links below to Elkind's book, as well as the easel and paints we use in our family!