Creativity is something innate in children. They are born being free and creative beings by nature, we all were and some of the older are still more or less. But as the child grows, and influenced by different environments, both at school and at home, creativity is an ability that is gradually losing or repressing, according to the guidelines of the surrounding adults.
I found a great video (you can see it below) that makes us see the importance of allowing and encouraging the development of each child's creativity. And understand that that creativity that puts a child in coloring a drawing, that same creativity that reinforce as children, will be the one that will allow them to effectively solve situations of their daily life in the future. We give you then eleven tips not to "kill" a child's creativity.
This kills a child's creativity
This is the video I was talking about. It makes us reflect on the environment in which we are raising our children. Are we helping the child to develop his own creativity or are we undermining that natural ability?
Sometimes, the standardized educational methods implemented in some schools or even parents, through phrases that we repeat over and over again, without letting them make mistakes and learn from their own mistakes, we are also restricting their creativity, their own way of doing.
Do schools kill creativity
The previous video comes a bit along the same lines that Sir Ken Robinson tells us in one of the best Ted talks for parents, a magnificent talk entitled "School kills creativity." According to him, an eminence in creativity and education, children are creative by nature, and we are the parents with our way of raising them and school, who take them away from that creativity.
Children are not afraid to take risks or make mistakes, it is the education system and parents who, unintentionally, are shaping them until they end up doing what we consider to be well done. A great talk, which has been seen by many people, and it is essential to see if you are a father or mother.
Eleven tips not to "kill" children's creativity
And now, after watching the previous videos, we will talk about how to ensure that our children always keep that innate creativity alive in their children. How to help them strengthen it.
Let him experiment and be wrong
The child needs to deduce from his own experience that he has done something wrong, that he was wrong. Let him use his own creativity to solve the problems. If before we do something we are the parents behind saying "be careful, you are going to fall", "be careful, you are going to get stained", "be careful, you can hurt yourself" we are not giving you the possibility of making mistakes and learning from your mistakes . We speak of common sense, if the child is going to put his fingers in the plug, we obviously do not allow it.
Promote your curiosity
Children are curious by nature, don't let them lose that quality. It is wonderful to see the world with a child's curiosity, and many more things are learned than from an adult's vision. The eyes of a child see things for the first time, observing and wondering everything.
Let him express himself freely
Painting and drawing, also dancing, are the smallest ways of expressing oneself. There they express their emotions, their worries, their fears. Do not direct them with themes, or shapes, or with the colors they have to use, or with the lines that cannot pass. Do not impose times either.
Offer it all kinds of materials
Put at your disposal all kinds of materials: markers, waxes, watercolors, clay ... Even let it paint on different surfaces, not always on a blank sheet. But we don't just talk about painting, but about creating in general, so give it access to various materials, provided they are safe, so they can experiment with objects of different shapes and textures. Do not be afraid of staining, it is part of the creative process.
Bring it closer to reading
Reading makes them discover a whole world of possibilities. It opens their minds to new adventures and scenarios, they imagine stories. All formats are allowed, comics, poetry, stories, adventures ... Let him freely choose what to read and when he is still very small, read him.
Do not try to typecast it
Some parents, and also some teachers, are very adept at putting the children in their own boxes with labels and everything. You are like that and you are like that. Fulanito is the creative, Menganito the rational. These labels make children create their own role and fear being something else. Let it be, without labels or value judgments.
Not only do you learn at school
There are many things that the child can learn outside the academic environment. Traveling, visiting museums, watching movies, and even through play, children are filled with enriching experiences that bring them knowledge.
Do not judge your creations
Whether a drawing is right or wrong is a completely subjective concept, therefore avoid criticizing or judging your child's creations. If he asks for your opinion, you can talk about what he has done, but qualifying it as good or bad or putting a note does not contribute to the promotion of creativity.
Learn with fun
Having fun is key to learning. It is very important that they have fun doing what they like. Some great creatives never took classes in their respective disciplines, but they learned through their own experience, learning from frustration and also from their own achievements, but they always kept the passion intact.
Educate in values
The values you instill in your children are more valuable than the norms themselves. The norms are arbitrary, they are forgotten or transformed, instead the values that they learn since they were little ones will always remain in them and they will undoubtedly help them to solve many situations that arise throughout their lives.
Always support him
Understanding, accompanying and always supporting your child is also a way to help him be creative. Don't be there imposing or correcting at every step. Let it be, let it experiment, let it be wrong.
Photos | iStockphoto
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