ru en

Develop your kid's creativity!

under 7 years

Some parents assume that creativity is an inborn talent that their kids either do or do not have: just as all children are not equally intelligent, all children are not equally creative. But actually, creativity is more skill than inborn talent, and it is a skill parents can help their kids develop.

Here are some ideas for fostering creativity in your kids:


  1.  Provide the resources they need for creative expression. The key resource here is time. Kids need a lot of time for unstructured, child-directed, imaginative play – unencumbered by adult direction, and that doesn't depend on a lot of commercial stuff. Space is also a resource your kids need. Unless you don't mind creative messes everywhere, give them a specific place where they can make a mess, like room in your attic for dress-up, a place in the garage for painting, or a corner in your family room for Legos.Next time someone asks for a gift suggestion for your kids, ask for things like art supplies, cheap cameras, costume components, building materials. Put these in easy-to-deal-with bins that your kids can manage.
  2.  Make your home a Petri dish for creativity. In addition to creative spaces, you need to foster a creative atmosphere.Solicit a high volume of different ideas, but resist the urge to evaluate the ideas your kids come up with. At dinnertime, for example, you could brainstorm activities for the upcoming weekend, encouraging the kids to come up with things they've never done before. Don't point out which ideas aren't possible, and don't decide which ideas are best. The focus of creative activities should be on process: generating (vs. evaluating) new ideas.Encourage kids to make mistakes and fail. Yes, fail – kids who are afraid of failure and judgment will curb their own creative thought. Share the mistakes you've made recently, so they get the idea that it is okay to flub up. Laughing at yourself when you blow it is a happiness habit.Celebrate innovation and creativity. Cover your walls with art and other evidence of creative expression. Tell your kids all about your favorite artists, musicians, and scientists. Share your passion for architecture or photography or that new band you want to listen to all the time. Embrace new technologies, so your kids grow to find change exciting, not over-whelming or intimidating.
  3.  Allow kids the freedom and autonomy to explore their ideas and do what they want. Don't be so bossy. Stop living in fear that they are going to be kidnapped or not get into a great college. External constraints—making them color within the lines, so to speak—can reduce flexibility in thinking. In one study, just demonstrating how to put together a model reduced the creative ways that kids accomplished this task.
  4.  Encourage children to read for pleasure and participate in the arts. Limit TV and other screen time in order to make room for creative activities like rehearsing a play, learning to draw, reading every book written by a favorite author.
  5.  Emphasize process rather than product. One way you can do this is by asking questions about the process – Did you have fun? Are you finished? What did you like about that activity?

Make funny photos with your kid, upload to the App. Write how you develop his/her creativity.

If you enjoyed this activity, you may also like the following activity, too

By signing up or otherwise using this website, you accept and agree to Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Content is available for users with Gold status

You can purchase it in mobile applications for iPhone and Android

Paywall illustration