Pre-empt the time spent on television and organize activities and have them spend it instead on claiming their imaginations. For in the end, that is all we have. If a thing cannot be imagined first — a cake, a relationship, a cure for AIDS — it cannot be. Life is bound by what we can envision.
I cannot plant imagination into my children. I can, however, provide an environment where their creativity is not just another mess to clean up but welcome evidence of grappling successfully with boredom. It is possible for boredom to deliver us to our best selves, the ones that long for risk and illumination and unspeakable beauty.
If we sit still long enough, we may hear the call behind boredom. With practice, we may have the imagination to rise up from the emptiness and answer.”
-Nancy H. Blakey
The first thing that comes into our mind when we hear the word imagination is a child looking at the world with amazement and seeing endless possibilities. Every child is born with a sense of creativity and imagination. But as they grow up, most of the kids lose their spontaneity and start looking at things in the usual way.
Every parent wants their child to be imaginative and creative. A creative child will be happier, good at solving problems, alert and will end up becoming a more secure and successful adult.
For being creative, a child doesn’tnecessarily have to be an artist or a painter or a writer. Being creative is just a way of thinking that allows you to see and understand things from a different perspective.
Here are a few activities that will help the parent and caregiver foster and inspire the power of creativity in their children, with just a little bit of effort and time-
- Tell stories– Since the days of yore, stories have been the ultimate fuel for creativity. You don’t need fancy books or Cds, just some time and not only will you be boosting the child’s imagination but also spending some quality time with them. Just make sure you present the story in an interesting way which will help you to grasp their attention for a longer period of time.
- Let them make art-All children are artists and a sure shot way to boost their creativity is by giving them a free reign and supplies like blocks, colours, play dough and brushes. Allow them to paint, scribble, mould, do anything basically. You will be amazed by the wonders children come up with.
- Unleash the superhero within them-Children love to do role play and be a new character every day. Talk to your child and ask what set of super powers would they like to have. You can also help them develop their own costume, name and logo. The options are endless and in result they get to be their own superhero.
- Motivate them to read– For children who are little older and can read, books are an excellent way to boost their creativity. Whatever their interest maybe, reading will help them know more about different people, time zones and places and world in general. It keeps their brain active and helps them imagine a world beyond their surroundings.
- Value their uniqueness– Every kid is different. Some are born with out of the box thinking and are innovators. Instead of teaching them to be “normal”, nurture their “oddness.” With your constant and unconditional support, they will grow into independent, confident adults. Don’t think that if your child is little different, he/she may not have a lot of friends. Till the time they have one or two friends, it’s good enough.
- Messy is good-Children aren’t that compatible with neatness. (haha, it’s not only your kid.)Don’tcurb their creativity in trying to keep the house clean. Let them make manageable mess and teach them to help you in cleaning up. So whether it is water on the floor, spreading their blocks all over the room, breaking eggs to see what’s inside or using whipped cream or food colour as paints, let their imagination run wild.
- Allow them to make their own choices– Free thinkers and creative children usually have the courage to make their own choices. Allow kids to choose their own clothes, make their own weekend plans. These seemingly small decisions help your child imagination and independence in a big way.
- Encourage them to ask questions-Kids have inquisitive mind. They want to know the why’s and how’s of everything. You can boost their creativity by asking them open ended “what if” questions like “what if we could live on moon?” Or” what if fishes could live on land?” These will get their brain cells working and encourage them to think. You can also ask them for their opinion on how to improve things like “cleaning the room faster” or “watering plants without allowing the water to drip”. This will help them develop problem solving skills and also give them confidence.
- Tell them about the Universe-The common factor between universe and a child’s imagination is that they both are never ending. Talk to them about galaxies, planets, stars and moons. Not only it will increase their knowledge but also make them creative.
- Make them learn a second language-Learning a new language opens a new world for kids. Start exposing kids to common words like “hi, hello, bye, school” in another language as soon as they are 3 years old. It will help them build their vocabulary and slowly they will start integrating the second language in their vocab. It will boost their knowledge of sounds & pattern of different dialects.
- Gift them a camera– A brilliant and easy way to boost a child’s creativity is to give them a camera. Allow them to click pictures of whatever catches their attention. This will help them develop an eye for detail and also will give you a better understanding of their psyche.
- Allow them to get bored– As soon as a child gets bored, parents usually give them an ipad or allow them to watch tv. This ends up making them consumers and not creative. What they don’t realize that getting bored and unstructured time pushes them to imagine, invent and create. Till the time they don’t get bored they won’t explore their inner and outer world. We have to teach them how to enjoy and utilize their free time.
It is the responsibility of both the parents and the school to give an environment to the kids which makes them into independent, creative, socially aware, kind and accepting human beings.
Schools like Sesame Street works with a globally acclaimed curriculum and has 42 centres all across India.Their curriculum instil the 4 C’s- critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity among the children.
“The artist is not a special kind of person; rather each person is a special kind of artist.”