EDITOR ’ S PICK
Creativity We come into the world as creative geniuses . That ’ s what one study by Drs . George Land and Beth Jarman determined back in 1992 . THey tested 1600 children between the ages 4-5 years old and found that 98 % of them scored at genius level in creativity . By grade school , only 30 % were considered creative geniuses , and only 12 % by high school . Guess how many adults are creative geniuses ? Less than 2 %. It ’ s clear that we lose our creativity over time , but there are things we do to protect and support creativity . Here are a few ideas :
• Designate a space for being creative . Provide art supplies , Legos , and other creative toys and materials that allow your child to explore different forms of creativity .
• Allow unstructured time to play freely . Creativity often arises out of boredom . Don ’ t feel the need to entertain your child constantly or schedule back to back activities so they don ’ t complain of having nothing to do .
• Avoid over-managing their play or art . If they color the grass red , let it be red . If they want to put out a pretend fire wearing a princess dress , why not ?
• Praise the process , not the result . Maybe the LEGO structure fell apart in the end , but they stayed at it !
• Help them find and pursue their passions . Expose them to different creative outlets such as art , dance , sculpting , and theater and let them decide how to best express themselves . •
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