As parents, you can spark your children’s creativity and imagination. Most people assume you’re born with creativity, but you can nurture creativity with the right resources and environment. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, 12-year-olds under the Montessori system wrote down more imaginative and intricate stories.
They also embraced their schools as communities and were more social than their counterparts in other education systems. Are you worried your children won’t be able to think outside the box? Well, there are many ways you can spark creativity in children and pre-teens; here are three.
1. Expose Them to Spark Creativity
If you don’t expose your children to the world, they’ll find it challenging to think outside the box. Expose them to different cultures, places, and things. This can happen in various ways; you can visit history museums, attend plays, or go to Broadway.
Find out what ethnic groups live around your area and encourage your children to try their food and visit their shopping areas. Exposing your children to different cultures expands their worldviews and ideas. Their thinking is not limited to what they’ve grown up with; they can borrow ideas from other cultures.
Another way to spark your children’s creativity is to expose them to nature; what better way to do this than through natural creation? Go for nature walks, hiking, or visit a nature reserve with them. You can also spark their creativity simply by reading with them.
Read with your child, expose them to literature, poetry, and music, and look for ways to expose them to artistic masterpieces regularly, and if possible, encourage them to learn a new language. Around 20% of U.S. children use another language other than English while at home, with Spanish being the commonest.
Speaking a second language exposes your child to different cultures and strengthens their cognitive skills. Bilingual people are also known to be more creative, flexible, and open-minded.
2. Encourage Their Passions
It might take a while to figure out what your children love or are passionate about, but it is easier to nurture once you’ve pinned it down. Or perhaps your children don’t seem interested in anything but have a lot of energy; they can’t stay still for even a second. Consider channeling that energy into a sport or an activity.
Most children and pre-teens love gymnastics, especially nine to 12-year-olds. Gymnastics is an all-rounded sport, engaging both sides of a child’s brain. Find out which sport your child likes and use that to spark creativity!
3. Let Them Ask Questions
One way to spark creativity and curiosity in your child is to have them ask questions about how the world works. Asking questions is the beginning of intelligence. Engage with your children and learn what they find meaningful and attractive. Ask them questions about their favorite shows, books, or subjects.
Why do they like certain cartoons more than others? Such questions make your kids curious and help them develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. You could also get them to ask “what if” questions. Researcher Melissa Burkley says in Psychology Today that teaching children to ask what-if questions can enhance their creativity.
You increase the chances of your children coming up with unique answers about how the world works if you ask them. While trying to spark creativity in your children, remember that whatever you’ve planned might not resonate with them, and they might take an interest in painting after you have tried so hard to get them to love music. Find out what they are interested in and make that available to them.
Don’t pull them away from their passion; bring it closer to them. As much as you want to spark creativity in your child, constantly hovering around them with a list of activities for them to try is not the way for you to go. Give them the time and space to run around aimlessly and have their imagination run wild in whatever they do. Let them be kids and allow them to enjoy themselves by simply existing!