Here are three ways to help your child unleash their creativity :
Engage in Creative Play
Painting , sculpting , crafting , role-play , music , drawing , and dancing are all forms of creative play . To ensure that your child engages in a regular routine of creative play , consider designating a special art corner or space in your home for creative play . This space could include an easel with paper and paints , a desk with a drawing pad and pencils , playdough , etc . To ensure that the space gets used and not forgotten , build this into your child ’ s daily routine . Set aside a specific time each day and be consistent . Perhaps creative play happens right after nap time or every evening at 5 pm or directly after breakfast . The goal is to make it a natural part of daily life .
Encourage Kids to Try and to Fail
Yes , fail ! I know it sounds like odd parenting advice , but the messages our children hear are so often focused around succeeding , winning , or mastery . Get good grades . Win the game . Earn a new stripe on your belt . We push them to succeed and sometimes we even punish them when they don ’ t . As you might imagine , this leads to fear of failure , and that ’ s the opposite of building resilience !
Fear of failure stifles creativity , but the truth is that , without failure , there would be no creativity . Imagine if all of our great innovators and inventors had given up after the first failure ! If we can give our kids the message that failure is part of the learning process , we can get them past the roadblocks so they can really unleash their potential . To help this along , focus on the process and not the outcome . We set our kids and ourselves up for disappointment when we expect every creative session to result in a masterpiece . If we think what we produce has to be mind-blowing , we are almost paralyzed to start . Rather , teach your child to just enjoy the process of creating and see what comes of it .
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