Let their minds wander
In this world subdued with monotonous thinking, ‘creative thinking’ or being ‘Out of the Box’ is something everyone wants for their kids. All of us today, wish to go out of the way to make our children put their thinking caps on and be MORE CREATIVE! To get that spark of uniqueness in your child, let their boundaries free. It is very important for us parents to know when to restrict our kids and when to let their imagination flow.
To get that spark of uniqueness in your child, let their boundaries free. It is very important for us parents to know when to restrict our kids and when to let their imagination flow.
Debbie Allen
But out of limitations comes creativity
Consider doing this to begin with
On a sunny Sunday morning, sit them down in the balcony where the cool breeze and the chirping birds accompany their thoughts. Ask them to close their eyes, and imagine! Imagine that they are given a superpower, a mighty superpower to fly, higher and higher in the sky. To fly with the birds, to fly over the trees, to be able to see all the people’s moments of happiness and those of miseries. From up there!
Now ask them what would they want to do if they had that power, how will they use it to make someone’s life better, or to revive our Mother Nature.
(This is the situation-oriented strategy that is the first and the foremost handy tool, to trigger an out of the box thinking in your children.)
In their initial years of growing, where we go wrong is we restrict their thinking capabilities. We unconsciously do that. How? We provide them with a confinement, in the form of books, space, thoughts and learning material. The concept of school curricula that we want our kids to religiously follow, as much as it is important, it also restricts them to a particular chain of thought.
All these wise men and political philosophers, who achieved great heights in life, Plato to Picasso, they wouldn’t have been there if their parents asked them to paint the picture with just one hue.
To trigger the undiscovered curiosity within our children,
1. Give them a blank canvas as soon as they learn how to hold a brush
Let their strokes decide their own directions, let it come out as something as pretty as possible. Take them in a pit full of sand, give them equipment, let them create their own castle out of that formless sand.
2. Give them a start to any story, and ask them to continue
For example, Once the lion, the king of the jungle, seeing all the trees of the forest being cut by humans, decided that he wants to conduct a meeting.
3. Suffice them with enough resources
Time is the most important resource. Unstructured thinking, designing, and building on it take time. Give it to them! Get them as
4. Indulge into open-ended discussions with your kids
With each bite of food you share on the dinner table, share your childhood memories with your kids. Enlighten them about how raw you were, how there was no stopping to something you decided to do once! Tell them all the incidents that happened, that made you a person you are right now.
5. Teach them to accept failures
Someone rightly said, ‘An essential aspect of Creativity is not being afraid to fail’. Edison might not have discovered the bulb, might he have given up after 1, 10 or even 100 tries, and our world would have been in darkness throughout.
Mighty things do not happen within boundaries
Celebrate innovations, laugh it off when you fail
Acceptance of failures comes out as one of the most vital components of creative thinking. If sometimes he/she is unable to reach up to the mark they set for themselves, tell them your success stories and ask them to keep working.
For example, there might be times when your kid will be turned down by the teachers or you yourself for raising questions like ‘Why is the Earth round?’ or ‘Why are leaves only green in
6. Encourage them to cherish even their colourful scribbles
Give them a white wall, or a tiny space in your house to paint it to their heart full. Let them cherish it for their entire lives.
7. Let them be their own boss
Creativity is hindered when there is a watchkeeper. This is where our education and nurturing is hindered. Always having someone on the top of your head, to keep a watch, leads the kids to confinement, fear, and acceptance.
8. Diversify their thoughts
Convergent thinking leads to conformity,
Divergent thinking leads to Innovation
At home and in school, make your kids read a lot. Hand them every genre of books, movies, art,
Let them CREATE- because with that, comes CREATIVITY!
References:
[1] Maya Angelou - Wikipedia ...
[2] Creativity trend report by Centre for child creativity - Report vol 1, vol 2
[3] Psychology Today - As Children’s Freedom Has Declined, So Has Their Creativity...