How to encourage creativity in boys and girls: 8 keys

No one doubts that creativity is a fundamental ability in the little ones. It helps them to express themselves, to manifest their inner world, in addition to helping adults to see through their eyes.

However, although all parents want the best for their children, sometimes from a perspective As an adult, children's expressive freedom is restricted, placing limits on a capacity that, naturally, does not have.

Telling children how to express themselves artistically is like clipping a butterfly's wings and sadly This mistake is very common in parents too rigid to dare to see the world as their own do. children.

That is why it is necessary to understand what are the best ways to maximize children's creativity, in addition to learning fun ways to put their imagination into practice.

Although it is believed otherwise, being creative is not something as innate as you may think, but rather it is a skill that can be exercised like any other. Let's see how to do it.

• We recommend you read: "The 7 personality traits of creative people"

How to encourage creativity in boys and girls: general tips

All parents want the best for their children, but ** sometimes, they don't know how to do it the best way that it can be done **. On many occasions, without daring to remember how they liked to express themselves when they were little, adults are not aware of what children like and don't like to do and, perhaps more important, how they don't like being told what must do.

Therefore, and to prevent the very good intention of promoting creativity in children from becoming boredom and something seen as homework, it is advisable to follow a series of tips. The last thing we want to achieve in children is that they see the artistic as a real roll.

1. Let them be different

As we were already suggesting, stiffness is the killer of creativity. Originality dies the moment you ask someone to do things like everyone else.

If they want to draw a green elephant instead of gray, let them do it. And if, in addition, instead of four legs and a trunk they put wheels and a water cannon, all the better.

Giving them all the artistic freedom to do what they want the most is a very good way to leave flow all kinds of ideas, in addition to making them gain self-confidence and not be afraid of make a mistake.

Nobody makes mistakes or mistakes when expressing themselves artistically. Art, in whatever form it is displayed, is something that does not follow an instruction manual. You should not be afraid to imagine, to be free.

2. Give them everything they need

A home full of painting tools, papers, play dough, clay and other creative elements it is an ideal place for the future artist.

Developing creativity in childhood requires a lot of stimulation, and having all these elements is a very good way to achieve this.

Of course, not everyone has to have the artistic arsenal of Dali, Picasso, Michelangelo or Da Vinci at home, but you can have some everyday tools that will of course also serve to stimulate the little ones.

All it takes is a few sheets of paper, paintings of any kind, old scraps of cloth, and a child's imagination to bring their entire inner world to life.

And of course, in the process, they should be allowed to get dirty, get out of line, use as many papers as they want, and break the odd pencil. They should be allowed to have fun, which is what they do.

3. If you disagree with something, so be it

This, perhaps, more than directly related to artistic creation, is more of a way of seeing facing life.

From time immemorial children have been told to obey without question what their parents and teachers tell them.

However, Don't they have the right to say what they think? How do we want them to be free artistically if we don't let them be free in other ways?

Always within limits, according to rules and with respect, the little ones should be allowed to say what what they like and what they don't like, what they think about any mundane situation and what they think could be done to make them like.

Divergent thinking implies looking for many solutions and proposing new ideas that the world does not necessarily have to see with the best eyes.

Telling them that they have no reason to disagree is, in essence, saying that their opinion is wrong.

4. Be the example

Encouraging children to be creative is all very well, but it doesn't do much good if mom or dad they stay on the couch watching TV while they wait for their offspring to be the future Pollock, Stephen King or Almodóvar.

Following the same philosophy of ‘if you read, they read’, if what we want is for the little ones to develop artistically, ideally, they should see adults being creative in their spare time.

Thus, children will associate it with something fun, not as something that their parents are asking them just because.

It is also very important to limit the time you watch television at home (this is not just for the little ones!), in addition to encouraging going out with the family to do cultural activities such as going to a museum, the theater or to see a movie educational.

5. The process matters, not the result

As we were already commenting, art should not be judged in terms of right and wrong. You should not look at a child's drawing or any artistic activity that he has done in terms of whether or not it is well done.

It will always be well done, as long as the child has made an effort to express his complex and rich inner world.

The process is what matters. They should enjoy what they are doing, feel a lot of fun while playing with the clay creating all kinds of figures or playing to be a cowgirl or a nurse.

The child should feel real satisfaction as he puts his creativity into practice.

Creative activities

Once you have seen the guidelines to follow recommended for older adults, It is time to see what are the activities that encourage the creativity of the smallest of the house.

It is very important that parents are aware while they are done, not to control them, but to participate in the artistic process of children, in addition to giving them confidence to create freely.

1. Building blocks

A classic. Games like legos, wooden blocks, meccans... are ideal for the child to put their imagination into practice.

Four blocks of wood can be in a single afternoon a house, a church, the tower of Pisa and a medieval castle.

Not only are you creative, you also improve your cognitive abilities as well as your fine muscles.

2. Paint

Another classic that we were already introducing at the beginning of the article.

It is surprising how a few paintings and a sheet of paper can be the source of an entire landscape that, although somewhat abstract, It is the best sample of the imagination of the infant.

It doesn't just have to be on a sheet of paper. Paintings, such as tempera and watercolors, are ideal for expressing on a canvas what is in the child's head.

3. Tangram

The classic tangram consists of seven pieces that can be combined making all kinds of shapes, that is why it is ideal for the child to test her creativity.

With these seven pieces you can form the figures of a monk, a cup, an athlete... everything that comes to mind.

4. Visit museums and read

The more you know, the more you are aware that the world has no limits. Something new will always be discovered and that, in itself, is a valuable lesson.

But, in addition to this, there is the fact that the more that is known, the more data can be combined and, in turn, this encourages imagination, given that there is a vast body of knowledge from which all kinds of new ideas.

For this reason, every family should never miss a monthly visit to museums, in addition to reading a lot. It is also worth watching documentaries or visiting the zoo.

5. Learn languages

Children's brains are very plastic, that is, they assimilate new knowledge very easily. That is why a popularly known belief and, in fact, it is true, is to promote language learning in the first years of life.

But what perhaps few know is that multilingual people have a greater propensity to generate creative ideas.

Also, by having a better perception of the mother tongue, multilingualism makes them have a better facility for writing, especially its most creative version: literature.

6. Take photos

Daily life may seem like something that is not so bad, but the truth is that, every day, things happen that are out of the ordinary. We just don't pay attention.

A good way to encourage creativity in children is to give them a camera and invite them to look for details in everyday things that seem out of the ordinary.

They may have found a spider in the bathroom and it caught their attention, or, while it was raining, they saw that in a puddle three autumn leaves float in such a way that they form a heart.

Everything observable with the lens of a camera can be, to children's eyes, something that stands out from the typical, and they can make up stories themselves to give them an explanation.

Bibliographic references:

Albert, M.L. and Obier, L.K., (1978). The Bilingual Brain, New York: Academic Press. Di Pietro, R.J. (1976). Language as Human Creation, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Runco, M. TO. and Bahleda, M. D. (1986) Implicit Theories of Artistic, Scientific, and Everyday Creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior, 20 (2). 93-98. Torrance, P. 1965. Scientific view of creativity and factors affecting its growth. Daedalus,: 663–64.