Encourage children’s creativity

Creativity is one of the most valuable human capacities, it allows us to express ourselves, dream and transform reality.. It is essential to find innovative solutions and to evolve individually and collectively. Encouraging creativity in children means allowing them to be free and deploy their abilities without fear. It is helping them discover their potential, develop it and be proud of it.

Many times we have a limited conception of creativity as something inevitably linked to the arts, music, theater or writing. However, this ability refers to a way of thinking and seeing the world that can also be expressed in many other areas of lifesuch as science, business or cooking.

For its part, creativity is not a categorical concept (you either have it or you don’t). On the contrary, It is a skill that can be developed and brings great benefits on a psychological level.. Creative people are more flexible, adaptable and capable of looking at reality with a broader perspective. Therefore, it is important to promote this quality in the little ones.

How to encourage creativity in children

Here are some tips to achieve this:

1. Allow them to be and do

First of all, it is essential to know the character and personality of the little one. As we mentioned before, creativity can be expressed in very different ways, and each of us has a different area that we are passionate about or in which we stand out. Therefore, Help your child find that activity that naturally arouses their curiosity and passion, and encourage them to carry it out freely.

To do this, give it time. When we organize and structure children’s daily lives excessively, we deprive them of time to simply try and explore. Free play is their way of knowing and discovering, make sure you offer them spaces for it. When there are no rules or impositions, when we act for pleasure and intrinsic motivation, creativity soars.

In the same way, Try not to correct your actions as a first option. Instead, do your research and be interested in their innovative ideas.. If the little one draws a purple banana or if, while playing with the building blocks, he places them in reverse, do not tell him that this is incorrect. Allows you to explore various options for doing things and give free rein to your imagination.

2. Show interest

For a child, his parents are the ultimate references regarding what is appropriate or undesirable. Therefore, the attitude you maintain towards them and their behavior will guide them to modify or maintain it. If you show interest in what he does, if you ask him and listen to his explanations, he will understand that he is a valuable person and his work is interesting. If you praise his innovative and unexpected ideas, he will learn to form a positive self-image and feel proud of his achievements.

Likewise, stay by their side and support them when they make mistakes. Failure is one of the best moments in which to display creativity. Instead of mentally judging and criticizing ourselves, we can review our steps and think about how we can find a different result than the one obtained. Encourage them to accept mistakes as part of the creative and learning process and use them as an impetus to find new solutions and ways of acting.

It is also very important to show ourselves available and interested in the questions that children may ask us. We must not forget that in each of them a seed of curiosity and creativity is hidden and we have the power to give it away and watch it grow. So, Let’s listen carefully to their doubts and involve the little one in the search for the answer whenever possible: Let’s encourage you to think and express your opinion about it and to go to reliable sources to find information.

3. Promote creativity in children based on self-esteem

Work on building a strong and healthy self-esteem in him. Encourage him to trust his ideass (even though they are out of the ordinary) and put them into practice with enthusiasm. Show them the value of diversity, of each person having a thought that they can share and contribute.

To put this into practice Try to ask their opinion on everyday matters and take them into account, This way you will be showing him that he is capable of having great ideas and that these are interesting and valuable.

4. Strengthens your patience and perseverance

It is also important teach them the value of the process and effort, and not just the results. This way they will know that patience and perseverance are valuable, regardless of whether or not they have obtained the desired results. Well, what really matters is the path traveled, the learning obtained and continuing to fight to achieve what we long for.

This teaching will help you be people with the ability to tolerate frustration, learn from their own mistakes and trust themselves. Essential factors to not spoil the creative process in the face of any failure or obstacle.

5. Do activities with them that encourage their imagination

There are a variety of activities that we can do with the little ones to give free rein to that imagination. The ideal is to accompany them without telling them what to do and how to do it, but rather letting yourself go.. Among these activities, drawings, reading stories, dancing, free games, etc. stand out.

Below, we delve into them.

Activities help foster creativity in children

In addition to the aforementioned guidelines, we suggest you do the following activities with your little one:

Stories: One way to stimulate creativity is by reading them stories, varying the events that happen a little, so they will notice that there may be different alternatives to the story. Likewise, you can improvise a story where you decide the characters, the events and the outcome.Pun: among the most popular is chained, which consists of saying a word with the last letter or syllable of the previous word that another player has said. Another game could be “I spy”, which influences the observation capacity.Drawing and painting: It is a way of capturing on paper or canvas everything that passes through your imagination.Writing: Another way to encourage creativity in children is to encourage them to write stories or about anything that catches their attention. This will positively influence their ability to express themselves through language and their written communication.imagination games: such as, for example, interpreting the shapes of the clouds in the sky, or making a list of uses for objects that we name, but without naming the usual use of that utensil.Performing arts: such as theater, music or dance. In this case, you can give him or her options and give him or her the freedom to choose what art catches his or her attention.Languages: Learning a second language brings multiple benefits in terms of flexibility and mental capacity. So it is an excellent option to encourage your creativity.

The importance of promoting creativity in children

To conclude, we want to highlight that stimulating creativity from childhood allows boys and girls to think for themselves and, therefore, question. Necessary skills to not let yourself be dominated or subjugated by others.

In addition, Creativity is key to making the way of thinking more flexible. Thus avoiding harmful behaviors such as intolerance or lack of empathy.

Finally, Creativity provides confidence and autonomy, which allows children to believe in themselves, their decisions and to stand up for themselves. A tool that every parent should provide to their children.

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