Fuelling Your Child's Creative Flame

Before children can become creative problem-solvers, they must first play imaginatively.

Discover easy ways to nurture your child's imaginative soul and let it flourish.

Your child displays creativity when she shakes a tambourine or bangs a drum to the beat of the dishwasher or makes something where nothing was before - a drawing, a finger painting, a clay animal. Creative children also are at work when they put on your old shoes and play house, insist that you set a place for an imaginary friend at the dinner table, tell you a tall tale about how the milk really got spilled, or beg you to get rid of the monsters that inhabit the bedroom cupboard.

Creativity enables children to be flexible and resilient. And that's so important because we can't predict what challenges our children will be faced with over a lifetime. We can only provide kids with the tools to work through them.

Play, Play, Play, There are two types of toys in the world.

Those that let children think and those those don't. Avoid battery operated toys that turn your child into an observer. Or educational software that only require the child to give the "correct" answer. Instead, give them things that allow them to direct the play.

Often, objects found around the house can hold more fascination than store-bought toys. Common objects such as wooden blocks, Lego, puzzles, plastic cups, rubber bands, kitchen utensils, play dough, old clothes and food colouring require children to interact with the object and make decisions about how to use it creatively.

Go On A Wacky Walk. See your neighbourhood with new eyes. Stroll down your street and ask open-ended questions such as "What do you think that cat ate for breakfast?" At half your size, small children have a different perspective. Perhaps the most wonderful aspect is that everything is fresh, new, and exciting to them. Make up games along the way. For example, say to your child, "How many different kinds of animals can we find?" Or start a collection of pretty rocks, shells or leaves.

Dress-Up For Fun. Though no dress-up box would be complete without the requisite fireman uniform and princess costume, it's important to include less clearly defined clothing too, such as hats, shirts, jackets, and coloured boxes that can be turned into any type of accessory. That way, children have the materials to create their own characters. With creative dramatic play, children feel free to express their inner feelings. It occurs daily in the lives of young children, as they constantly imitate the people, animals, and machines in their world. It also helps them understand and deal with the world.

Let children know that it is not always critical to have the

" correct " answer to the problem - that novel, innovative, and unique approaches are valued as well.

Make Music. Turn on the stereo and get out your kitchen instruments. Coffee beans in a tin can make ideal maracas. Wooden bowls and spoons are easy drums. Metal whisks and colanders double as timpani and cymbals. Turn up the jazz, classical or rock and roll, and play that funky music. Dance and sing without fear or favour!

Get Messy. Find a controlled space in your home to dub "Messyville", at least for a couple of hours. Place old newspapers down to collect the chaos. Then, get out giant pieces of paper, paint, glue, safety scissors, string, old magazines, colourful feathers and glitter. Roll up your child's sleeves (and yours too!) and create paintings, collages, sculptures - no masterpiece is too messy!

Enjoy A Good Book. To make up her own thoughts, a child needs a base of knowledge about the world (she can't pretend she's a space traveller or a ballerina unless she knows what an astronaut or a dancer does), and she needs inspiration.

Books are an ideal way to supply both of these building blocks. Reading to your child sends his imagination into overdrive and is a good way to help your children see the viewpoints of others, help him explore his own feelings, and handles his emotions.

While reading, ask open-ended questions such as, "What are the people in the picture saying?" or act out the story after reading it or even put up a puppet theater.

Have A Silly Contest. Challenge your child to draw the strangest picture of a cat ever, or to create the wackiest dance in the world. These kinds of activities not only encourage creativity, but they also demonstrate that striving for perfection isn't necessarily a desirable goal.

Tell Tall Tales. Play the "what if" game. "What if you were given two days to do anything you wanted to do .... " While stuck in traffic, watch the cars that go pass and pick one to tell a story about. Try this as an example: "This car is heading to the Zoo.

The two kids in the back are lucky enough to be missing school because their grandparents, driving the car, are taking them to the zoo because the grandfather worked there and he can take them behind the cages. The boy loves elephants .... "

Play Along. Studies have found that children whose parents participate in creative play with them develop broader vocabularies and more flexible thinking skills. So sit down and finger-paint with your child. Or play dress-up with him. If you're interested, he will be too.

Encourage Exploration. The more supervised exposure your child has to people, sights, and experiences outside the home, the richer his imagination - and his play - will be. While museum visits, theatre and concert programmes, farm tours, and zoos make wonderful day trips, even a visit to the grocery store can be an adventure.

Wherever you take your child, talk to him about what you're doing and enlist his help in pointing out new sights.

Talk about your experience later, asking him to tell a story or draw a picture about the people he saw, and answer his questions. More than anything, this expands imagination.

Have Fun And A Sense of Humour.

Laugh, have fun, laugh, have fun and laugh a lot! Humour is a key ingredient in creativity. Laugh at situations, events and even yourself. Lighten up and get silly!

Relax the Controls. Adults who constantly exert supervision and control diminish the spontaneity and self-confidence that are essential to the creative spirit. Let children know that it is not always critical to have the "correct" answer to the problem - that novel, innovative, and unique approaches are valued as well.

Offer-But Do Not Pressure. Resist the temptation to overcrowd your child with organised activities in an attempt to cultivate her creativity. Allow the child time to be alone to develop the creativity that is innate in all of us.

Celebrate Your Child's Creativity.

Emphasise the enjoyment and the "process" of creating or making something, more than the results. The aesthetic qualities of a young child's work are not as important as the process used to create them.

To celebrate, proudly display their works of creativity. Our greatest role in protecting the creative spirit within our children is to be open to their originality and questions, join in with their playful thinking, and appreciate their singing, building, and painting.

To do that, we need to embody the qualities of the creative spirit that come naturally to our children - enthusiasm, excitement, spontaneity, playfulness, and imagination.