Good Parenting

As parents, we all enjoy seeing our kids’ creativity. Sometimes, kids feel a little shy about expressing their creativity, or they don’t know where to start. Don’t worry! There are plenty of ways to encourage creativity in your children. As they get used to stretching their wings, they’ll also take pride in their accomplishments and creations.
1. Freedom
Allow your child the freedom to express herself. When she feels secure and supported, she will be more likely to be comfortable being herself. Give her materials to play with and allow her to express herself without criticism.
2. Respect
Offer your child respect in whatever they want to try. Help build his confidence in himself. This will make him feel comfortable taking risks and being original. Listen and respect his imagination. If he expresses doubt or seems afraid to try something new, encourage him to tackle an idea from different directions.

3. Appreciate their creativity
Encourage your child to be curious and have a sense of wonder in all around her. Acknowledging and appreciating her attempts at creativity will help her to have the courage to exercise her creativity again and again.
4. Enjoy the creativity!
Have fun with your child! Laugh, play, and create alongside him. Find humor in the world around you. Be sillyÂ… it is fun and stimulates creativity. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself.
5. Enjoy success
Open opportunities for your children to try out new interests, experiences and new things. Maybe they’ll want to learn new skills. If they have new ideas, encourage them! When they learn it feels good to be successful, they will continue to be so. When they learn creativity is fun, they will seek out more opportunities to be creative.
6. Model creativity
As a parent, you are a primary role model for your child. Let her see you be creative. It doesn’t matter if you dabble in art, in knitting or in the kitchen creating new recipes. She will see you trying new things and venture to try a few things of her own.
7. Detach yourself from the outcome
Don’t pin everything on how his projects turn out. His creativity is his own. Be proud of your own creativity, and let him take pride in his. Encourage him to be proud of his work.
8. Focus on achievement, not grades
It is proper to encourage your child to do her best. It is great if she accomplishes her goals. Learning according to the book and getting high grades are not the ultimate goal in life. Imagination is an important part of life and creativity. By allowing her to follow her interests and achieve her goals, her creativity will blossom and help her achieve more in life.
9. Don’t worry so much about rules
Enclosing your child within too many roles is stifling and spells death to creativity. Instead, model your values and allow your children to fit their behavior to the values of the family. Creativity will be more likely to flourish when there is some freedom involved.
10. See your child as unique
Have the confidence in your child to be creative. Don’t expect him to always follow the crowd. If he expresses himself in an original way, support that. Your child will feel your confidence in him and act accordingly.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Good Parenting.