The true beauty of creativity lies in its ability to add emotion, meaning and understanding to our lives. In order to ensure that creativity continuously holds an important part of your family’s life, it is crucial to foster it from a young age.
The formative years of a child’s development is undoubtedly one of the most crucial times of one’s life, with early childhood experiences shaping the development of social skills, lifelong learning abilities, cognitive skills and future relationships among many others.
Although so many tend to only appreciate the arts later on in life for its calming, cathartic and therapeutic effects, fostering creativity from an early age can ensure its survival throughout one’s life. For a deeper look into the meaning of creativity, the psychological mechanisms behind it, the importance of early implementation and the different skills that creativity fosters, you can check out our article on The Importance of Creativity in Childhood Development.
10 Ways To Inspire Creativity At Home
There are a number of ways to inspire creativity in your home and with your children – so let’s dive in! We’ve laid out a list of some tips, tricks, activities and tasks that you can implement at home to encourage creativity in your family.
1. Reduce unproductive and under stimulating screen time
It’s no secret that the expansion in technology and digital advancements has had an increasingly large impact on the lives of children today. Although screen time can often have a detrimental impact on childhood development, especially in the formative years, it does have its advantages.
Playing a supporting role in a child’s creative streak, it has been found that online and offline forms of creativity contribute equally to overall creativity. Apps, games and programs that allow children to either draw, paint or simply create works to stimulate the same cognitive pathways and encourage creativity!
However, this does not mean that all creativity should be stimulated using devices – traditional media is still preferred. Learn here how to setup parental controls on your kids device.
We can also highly recommend DIY. DIY is a place where kids between the ages 5 and 15 can learn new skills and share their experiences with a community of kids from over 148 different countries around the world. Kids on DIY have access to thousands of how-to videos that teach you to paint, bake, build, animate, write – the list goes on and on!
2. Free creative time & art supplies
Although designated art activities or games are great and undoubtedly work to inspire creativity in children, there is nothing quite like free creative time. Consider creating an open, creative space in which mistakes are welcomed and ideas are encouraged.
Directionless creativity allows children to work through their emotions, expel some creative energy, develop their art skills and make decisions.
In painting, dancing, drawing, collaging or sculpting, children are able to physically manipulate and become accustomed to working with art supplies. This free manipulation of their creative skills allows for children to experience a sense of freedom as well as develop fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. Coloring is a great way to develop creative skills! Check out this article to see our list of best coloring books for children.
3. Play and create music
Although creativity is usually correlated with painting or drawing, the importance of music should not be underestimated. Music is a crucial part of most preschool curriculums, as a love for music seems to be an intrinsic characteristic of young children. They enjoy singing and listening to rhythms, flows, melodies and beats.
Consider incorporating more music into your life at home as an affiliation with music is often correlated with an increased ability to differentiate between concepts of loud, soft, slow and fast. Through music, children are able to develop a heightened sense of self control, concentration and the ability to work with others in groups.
4. Get active, engage in dance!
Another overlooked form of creativity is dance. Because children are usually active, it is a great idea to seize those opportunities and incorporate dance in to their days. Ballet, modern, hip hop – there are a number of dance forms you can choose from, or you could just have fun!
Dance can serve as a way to transform excessive energy in children into something stimulating, creative and rhythmic. Carrying out dance movements help to develops both imagination and motor skills. If you’d like to go the extra mile, consider incorporating props, outfits, streamers or wristbands for special performances!
5. Act it out
Acting can serve as a form of great form of creativity and self-expression, particularly in a child’s early developmental years. At around elementary age, children are increasingly imaginative and have a tendency to enjoy taking part in drama plays and performances. Incorporating music, dances and storylines serve as a way to experiment with ideas and execution, as well as make sense of their emotions.
The presence of others as spectators or participants further promotes group work and allows children to become accustomed to concepts like public speaking. Consider introducing acting activities for your children as another great way to inspire creativity in your home.
6. Figure out what your child’s preferred creative outlet is, and encourage it
Creativity in children is constantly on the lookout – so you’ll need to seize the opportunity! Make sure to expose your child to as many forms of creativity as you can, and pay attention to what they enjoy most.
Once you have figured that out, you can actively create creative activities or environments in which they can foster their creativity.
7. Spend time outdoors, discover and explore
Making sure to spend enough time outdoors and surrounded by nature is a crucial component of inspiring creativity in your children. The ever changing character of nature allows for children to observe change in a beautiful way. It also allows for opportunities of discovery, problem solving and processing thoughts and emotions.
Naturally, children are inclined to be inquisitive and ask questions – and nature serves as a great teacher. As I’m sure you remember, playing outside provides a feeling of freedom and limitless possibilities!
These same concepts exist in art and creativity, creating a bridge between the two. Children can draw in the sand, build forts, invent games or even just stare at the clouds – these are all activities that function to build creativity.
8. Play make believe
One of the most sure fire ways of stimulating creativity is by exercising the imagination. What better way to develop this skill than by playing make believe. This fundamental aspect of childhood works to foster a great level of creativity as children invent and imagine limitless scenarios of which they are in charge!
When a child invents a storyline or scenario, they have to organize their thoughts, decide between different roles and practise their social and communication skills.
Consider encouraging your child to play house, doctor, zoo, school or store – in a way that allows them to be in charge and direct play time. By partaking in this activity with your child, you’ll also model confidence and develop better communication skills too.
9. Ask more open ended and thought provoking questions
Asking open ended and thought provoking questions is a great way to stimulate imaginative and creative thinking during a child’s formative years.
By doing so, your child will feel increasingly free to express their ideas, thoughts, visions and feelings, as well as feel as though their opinion is valid and respected. By opening up a higher order of thinking and communicating, creativity and imagination flourishes like no other.
10. Be creative yourself
Because modelling is one of the most effective ways that children learn, taking part in creative activities or living a generally art-driven lifestyle is a great way to transfer the creativity trait onto your children.
By observing others being creative, children begin to model their behaviours. Make sure to fill your home with art, display artworks, listen to music, read books and appreciate films – these are all simple creative tasks that can boost creativity in your family.
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