How To Increase The Creativity Of Kids.

Kids are born with an empty hard disk. It is up to the parents or the guardians to install the required attributes. Unlike a computer’s hard disk, a kid’s behavior and attributes will also be affected by the environment that s/he is brought up in.

Children tend to pick quick signals from the environment, and they will try to copy what the people close to them do. It is, therefore, important to set a good example for your kids right from the beginning. It is up to the parents to ensure they act responsibly around the kids because they will simply imitate what adults do.

But how do you foster creativity in kids?

Encouraging creativity in kids should be a continuous process. All you need to do as a parent is to ensure your kids is exposed to things that will trigger his or her imagination at all time. You can borrow a lot from the creativity of cartoon creators. They will continuously develop storylines and plots that will encourage the children to think outside the box (sometimes even outside space).

There are many ways of triggering creativity in kids, but this will vary from one kid to the other. It is based on their likes and dislikes. You should not force a kid to love something. It should come naturally.

Here are some of the approaches that have been tried and tested and proven to work incredibly well in fostering creativity in children:

Allow more time for kids to play – Whether the kid is playing with friends outside or with toys within the house, you should ensure s/he has more time to play. Children need time to play their types of games without being structured. Adults-led games will limit the kid’s imagination. Kids should be allowed to freely interact with others and the toys they have. Also, parents should ensure kids have enough space for them to mess around, get dirty, and feel good about themselves.

Instill the reading culture – This should be taught to kids from a young age. The best approach is by allowing kids to read for pleasure. Limit the time the kids spend on TV or other tech gadgets to let them spend more time reading or working on creative toys that have some text. The most important thing to observe here is to ensure they find pleasure in reading or drawing. A picture or comic book is a good start.

Allow kids to express themselves – Freedom of expression is not a right for adults only; kids will develop well if they are allowed to express themselves freely. Parents should eliminate fear and encourage their children to express themselves freely. This will enable the kids to ask questions and, improve their ability and understanding of their surroundings.

Never incentivize creativity – We often feel the need to reward our kids when they do something good. When a kid does something creative, you should just acknowledge it and encourage them to do more creative stuff. rewarding will interfere with creativity and will reduce the consistency and versatility of their responses. Parents should just encourage kids to practice creative activities which they are naturally (organically) motivated to do instead of encouraging them with rewards and incentives.

Don’t be so keen on what your kids achieve – The results of what a kid does should not be ranked or compared to any other results (better or worse). Kids should be made to believe that what they have created is the best. They should be rewarded accordingly and encouraged to repeat the processes. The process is more important than the outcome or the products. One way of ensuring that your kids enjoyed the activities is by asking them every so often whether they enjoyed the process. Let them tell you what they liked about the entire process.