Several days a week I wipe the lunch crumbs off the dining room table; send the kids to their rooms for some quiet time; and pull out either my glue gun and Rubbermaid of felt scraps, or a fresh stack of paper and favorite Sharpie pens and “go to work.”
The kids see me in the creative process, and admittedly, most days find a way to sneak down from their quiet time destination to join the “fun.”
We’re a family that loves to create and while we can’t seem to keep enough sharp pencils, glue sticks, or scissors in the supply drawer and I’m constantly clogging up the vacuum from sucking up too many paper snippings–I usually overlook the problem because I love that they love to create.
{A daily scene around our house}
The Benefits of Creativity
Encouraging creativity helps kids learn to use their imagination, solve problems, express emotion in healthy ways, experience outside perspectives, teach teamwork, and strengthen relationships and they can pursue creativity in a myriad of ways such as:
- drawing
- painting
- cutting
- pasting
- digging in the sandbox
- reading
- sculpting with play dough
- blowing bubbles
- assembling forts
- dancing
- making music
- constructing with blocks/Legos
- dressing up
- role playing
- exploring outside
- solving puzzles, and much more.
{Serving mommy pizza from the “Best Restaurant Ever”}
What are some ways you encourage your kids’ creativity?
My kids love to turn boxes into things. Have you ever read “Not a Box” or “Not a Stick”? GREAT BOOKS! Anyway, they love “Not a Box” and beg for me to give them the empty diapers box before I’m even done with it. They will cut it, color on it, glue stuff on it, and use it in their dramatic play. My girls are 8 and 6 and their favorite thing to do STILL is pretend play with each other. I. Love. It.
@Mandy, Thanks for the tip, I’m going to have to check out those books! And darn, I just threw away two big diaper boxes last night. One time some friends got a new fridge and gave us the box from it. My kids played in (colored on, etc.) that for months!
We do a lot of Lego creations and dramatic stories to go with it, drawing, play dough , have a sandpit(but that is used less now they are older. We love sheet cubby houses, dancing , puzzles, dress up and dramatic play are just some of the things the boys like to do on a weekly basis. I have finally caught our six year old reading to himself for pleasure and it just warms my heart to see the joy and excitement. They both love us to read to them and often incorporate the books into their play.
@libbywilko, Where do you get your dress up things? My girls are starting to get into that and other than the past couple of years’ Halloween costumes, we don’t have much. I think it’s something they’d really enjoy doing more of.