Tips for Developing Creativity

Here are just a few ideas to get you started in encouraging creativity in your children……

• Have your children design their own games. I would sometimes give them ingredients like a deck of cards, a piece of cardboard and a timer. You’ll be surprised what they come up with. Then, the most important part, play the game together as a family.
• Design greeting and holiday cards.
• Write and perform jokes. What kid doesn’t love a good knock-knock joke?
• Allow the children to decorate their own rooms.
• Place a common household item in front of them and have them list ten new uses for it.
• Start a tradition where the children write and perform a play for special occasions. Gathering the costumes, sets and props are part of the fun.
• Have them write new words to a familiar tune. Sing the new song as a family.
• Let the children plan their own birthday celebrations (with a budget, of course).
• Create a new candy, business, amusement park ride, kind of pizza, flavor of ice cream…
• A comic strip is a fun, creative activity.
• Construct a fort or club house.
• Write stories—type them and illustrate.
• Make puppets for puppet shows. Invite Grandma and Grandpa for a show.
• Collections are a good way for a child to express his individuality.
• Let them borrow the camera or purchase a cheap or disposable one. See how they see things, what they focus on.
• Don’t rush to solve problems for them. Allow them to think through possible solutions.
• Display their creative achievements, laugh at their jokes, clap at their plays, hang up their art work.
• Put aside your ideas of how things should look.
• Provide raw materials.
• Limit consumer fixes. Don’t fill all needs at the department store. Desire fuels creative thought.
• Help them develop skill they need to express themselves creatively.
• Accept that a creative house might sometimes be a little messy.
• Have fun with it!