Instead of just sitting around and watching T.V or going out for pizza as a fun activity with your children, there are other activities that are more fun, very productive and enhance children’s creativity.
Creativity is an essential element because it gives the assurance to children to believe, “Yes! I can do it, if I can dream it, I can achieve it.”
Fun ways to enhance creativity
1. Talk and Listen
When was the last time you actually had a light hearty chat with your child, when you simply did not discuss school and homework, or how was Daniels birthday party. And all you said, “Oh really! uhmm…, good.”
Are you making the most of family chat time or are you just filling it up? When you were a kid what kind of discussions did you enjoy most with your parents?
Talk about your childhood, relate them to your past and tell them how similar or different their childhood is. Ask questions like what they enjoy most, what makes them happy and what causes fear and anger.
2. Cook dinner together
Not everyone enjoys cooking , but it’s a task that has to be done in order to fill up the empty tummy, so why not involve your children in it, cooking is almost like painting, when different ingredients like colors blend into one delicious dish. It’s a very creative activity, let them help in the salad and let them add sauces from the top.
Remember children love doing things that adults do. It makes them feel confident as an individual. Make it a habit to go in the kitchen together. Teach them the basics and then let them prepare their own sandwiches.
3. Play pretend
Personally one of my favorite, playing pretend lets you become whatever you dream of being, all your hidden desires so fearlessly come out once you wear the name of another person and start feeling as one.
Playing pretend at a small level from home builds so much confidence in children that they are ready to speak to the world, they have the guts to give their opinion, share their views, perform on stage and take part in speeches and debates.
The ability to declare, “I think” is a big step towards maturity.
4. Paint, sketch, draw
Nothing gives more freedom to express creativity than a blank paper and color do.
Drawings of children are the exact image of their mind.
Why does the child choose a specific color to paint the ball and why did he draw the sun and moon together? He’s creating something in his mind and he very well knows what it is.
Many good reputable schools give lots of importance to the arts class, believing that arts and art education enhances creativity.
So why don’t you sit down with your children with a white paper each and a box of colors, trust me it’s so much fun painting together.
5. Read story books together
I bet one of your most favorite pastimes in childhood must have been listening to stories either from grandma or reading books with dad.
Now what is it that really stirs magic in a fairy tale? How it is that children actually get lost in a story and why do they want to listen to that one single story over and over again?
In reality a book speaks and story books speak the loudest.
The beginning of a story,“Once upon a time…” lifts the feet of the child, and up, up they fly away into wonderland.
He can sense and see the giant frog, the tiniest fairy and the three headed monster, they begin creating images in their mind, and dream of playing the hero of the story.
Reading books is one of the healthiest activities for children and also for adults as it doesn’t let the brain wander and get bored. It keeps the creativity level enhanced.
