***Collaborative post***
Many parents don’t want their young kids to turn the entire house into an art canvas. However, colouring walls and any reachable surface is something most kids do to express their creativity. Admittedly, many parents do not like the ‘drawing on walls’ part. Fortunately, there are things you can do to foster creativity and keep your children safe. A 2019 UK research showed that 98% of kids were most creative between three and five years. With this information in mind, here are ideas on how to guide your young ones to foster their creativity.
Provide the needed resources
Indeed, creativity is a broad topic, and it’s better to understand the nuances first. Your child’s talents could be reading, writing, drawing or other art forms. This is the experimental period. Therefore, it would be a good idea to make the needed resources available. The more open these resources are, the better the chances of helping your kids to discover their multifaceted creative talents.
One of the things some parents fail to realise is that space is a crucial resource that kids need. So it is a good idea to create a designated area for play. Another thing to consider is providing the necessary art supplies to help them nurture their imaginative minds. Even though your role is to help nurture creativity, you also want to ensure that everything you provide is safe and child-friendly.
Help your kids to express divergent views and thoughts
Creativity is not all about painting and drawing pictures. Instead, it is about the freedom to express different views and thoughts. Remember that adopting this strategy as a parent or guardian creates a positive learning environment for your kids. Indeed, kids need guidance. However, it would help to acknowledge that the tools you provide them today will play significant roles in their adult lives.
Therefore, if your child grows in an excessively restricting environment that fails to encourage divergent views, it could spell doom in the future. Children need to learn that it’s alright to be different and have divergent views early on. Moreover, the freedom to express their divergent thoughts can provide the platform to foster more creativity. It also helps in developing their problem-solving skills.
Encourage, commend and give feedback where necessary
No matter what your child churns out as their creative work, it would make a massive difference if you offer positive feedback. Even in areas where criticism is necessary, try to avoid making the child feel like they did something wrong. At the end of the day, your acknowledgement and positive feedback encourage the child in question to do better, so keep this in mind.
Utterly negative feedback will most likely cause some kids to recoil into their shells. Even worse, they may stop trying their hands at being creative in your presence. Remember that young kids are still in their formative years. Therefore, it would help if you nurtured their creativity in a friendly environment.
