How to encourage creativity in children: 8 key points

We propose several tips and activities for your children to develop this activity.

No one doubts that creativity is a fundamental ability in the youngest children.. It helps them to express themselves, to express their inner world, as well as helping adults to see through their eyes.

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

Telling children how to express themselves artistically is like clipping the wings of a butterfly and, sadly, this mistake is all too common in parents who are too rigid to dare to see the world as their own children do.

That is why it is necessary to understand what are the best ways to encourage children's creativity to the maximum, as well as to learn fun ways to put their imagination into practice.

Although you might think otherwise, being creative is not as innate as you might think, but rather it is an aptitude that can be exercised like any other. Let's see how to do it.

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

How to encourage creativity in children: general tips.

All parents want the best for their children, but,** sometimes, they do not know how to do it in the best possible way**. Often, without daring to remember how they liked to express themselves when they themselves were young, adults are unaware of what children like and don't like to do and, perhaps more importantly, how they don't like to be told what to do.

For this reason, and to prevent the very good intention of encouraging creativity in children from turning into boredom and something seen as if it were homework, it is advisable to follow a series of tips. The last thing we want is for children to see art as a real bore.

1. Let them be different

As we were already suggesting, rigidity 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 a gray one, 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 whatever they want is a very good way to let all kinds of ideas flow, besides making them gain self-confidence and not be afraid of making mistakes.

No one makes mistakes and no one makes mistakes when they express themselves artistically. Art, in whatever form it is shown, is something that does not follow an instruction manual. One should not be afraid to imagine, to be free.

2. Give them everything they need

A home that abounds with painting tools, paper, play dough, clay and other creative elements is an ideal place for children. is an ideal place for the future artist.

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

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

A few sheets of paper, paints of any kind, old pieces of cloth and children's imagination are enough to make their inner world come true.

And, of course, in the process, they should be allowed to get messy, get out of line, use as many papers as they want, and break a pencil or two. They should be allowed to have fun, because that's what they're doing it for.

3. If they don't agree with something, so be it.

This, perhaps, rather than being directly related to artistic creation, is more a way of looking at life.

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

However, do they not have the right to say don't they have the right to say what they think? How can we want them to be free artistically if we do not allow them to be free in other aspects?

Always within limits, according to rules and with respect, children should be allowed to say what they like and dislike, what they think about any mundane situation and what they think could be done to make them like it.

Divergent thinking involves looking for many solutions and proposing new ideas that the world does not necessarily see in the best light.

Telling them that they are wrong for disagreeing is, in essence, saying that their opinion is wrong.

4. Be the example

It's all well and good to encourage children to be creative, but it doesn't do much good if mom or dad sits on the couch watching TV while waiting for their offspring to be the future Pollock, Stephen King or Almodovar.

Following the same philosophy of 'if you read, they read', if what we want is for the little ones to develop artistically, the ideal is for them to watch the adults, ideally, they should see adults being creative in their free time..

This way, children will associate it with something fun, not something that their parents are asking them to do just because.

It is also very important to limit the time spent watching television at home (this is not just for the little ones!), as well as to encourage family outings for cultural activities such as going to a museum, the theater or watching an educational movie.

5. The process is important, not the result

As we were saying, art should not be judged in terms of right and wrong.. You should not look at a child's drawing or any artistic activity he or she 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 or her 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 at being a cowgirl or a nurse.

The child should feel genuine satisfaction as they put their creativity into practice.

Creative activities

Now that we have seen the guidelines recommended for adults, it is time to see which activities encourage creativity in children, it is time to see which are the activities that encourage the creativity of the youngest members of the family..

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

1. Building blocks

A classic. Games such as Legos, wooden blocks, Meccano ... are ideal for children to put their imagination into practice.

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

Not only are they creative, but they also improve their cognitive abilities as well as their fine muscles.

2. Painting

Another classic that we introduced at the beginning of this article.

It is amazing how a few paints and a sheet of paper can be the source of a whole landscape that, although somewhat abstract, is the best example of a child's imagination, is the best example of a child's imagination..

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

3. Tangram

The classic tangram consists of seven pieces that can be combined to make all kinds of shapes.The classic tangram consists of seven pieces that can be combined to make all kinds of shapes, which is why it is ideal for children to test their creativity.

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

4. Visiting museums and reading

The more knowledge you have, the more you become aware that the world has no limits.. You will always discover something new and that, in itself, is a valuable lesson.

But there is also the fact that the more you know, the more facts you can combine and, in turn, this encourages the imagination, since you have a wealth of knowledge from which all kinds of new ideas can emerge.

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. Learning languages

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

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

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

6. Taking pictures

Everyday life may not seem like a big deal, but the truth is that, every day, things happen that are out of the ordinary.. We just don't notice them.

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 may have seen three autumn leaves floating in a puddle in such a way that they formed a heart.

Everything observable with a camera lens may be, to children's eyes, something out of the ordinary, and they themselves can make up stories to explain them.

Referencias bibliográficas:

Albert, M.L. y 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. A. y 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.