Children are born to be naturally inquisitive and creative. When creativity and curiosity are cultivated in children, they are more likely to be excellent problem-solvers, academically successful, and artistically creative.
Here are some tips to encourage creativity in young children.
Foster a Creative Environment
Setting up a creative environment will be both inspiring to your child’s creativity and provide healthy boundaries for creative pursuits. For instance, set up a crafting table with various crafting supplies, a dress-up corner, or a LEGO or train table.
Limit Technology
Creativity is like a muscle–it takes work to build up creative skills! Screen time can lull your child into a state of creative inactivity and their creative muscles can atrophy. Limiting screen time to an age-appropriate amount allows your child to have the time and space to be creative.
Let Them Be Bored
Boredom is where creativity really blossoms. Don’t be quick to relieve your child’s boredom. Instead, gently direct them to engage in something creative. If your child needs some prompting, give them some clues to being creative, like saying “What can you make with popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners?” will help get the creative juices flowing without telling them what to make.
Provide Ample Creativity Supplies
Give as much age-appropriate access to creativity supplies as you can. While babies and toddlers should always be supervised with art supplies, children preschool-aged and older should need less supervision. You can give these older children more access to craft supplies that let them explore their creativity any time an idea pops in their mind.
Even if your child makes a mess or forgets to put the marker tops back on the markers, these are important life lessons about responsibility. It’s best to learn these lessons in responsibility at young ages and with relatively insignificant and replaceable items like craft supplies than later in life when the stakes are higher.
Provide Open-Ended Toys
Toys with trending characters, designs, noises, and lights limit the use of the toy. However, open-ended toys like blocks or LEGOs, magnetic tiles, dress-up clothes, crafting supplies, train tracks, play silks, and more, can be used in countless ways that will inspire their creativity.
Encourage the Process, Not Results
Young children are generally not prodigy artists, but perfect artwork isn’t the goal at this age. Instead of focusing on the final result of their artwork, LEGO design, or dress-up outfit, encourage the enjoyment of their creativity and their effort, perseverance, and thoughtfulness. Children have wonderful and wild imaginations, and it’s likely you’ll enjoy their creations just as much as they do when you take the time to listen to their creative processes.
You can follow up with encouraging phrases like:
- “I can’t wait to see what you do next!”
- “I love how proud you are of your artwork!”
- “I’m so impressed you thought of that all on your own!”
- “I can see how hard you’ve worked on that!”
These kind words of encouragement don’t necessarily speak of the proficiency of their skill but will inspire your child to continue to grow in creativity.
Read to Them
Reading is one of the best ways to inspire creativity. Hearing written stories sparks their own play stories. They might begin by reenacting the story they heard, but then they will inevitably change the details and create their own story.
Creativity at Bright Start Louisville
At Bright Start Louisville, we encourage and inspire children to be creative. We offer a wide range of open-ended and creative toys so they can engage in creative play. Our teachers have regular craft time to hone their artistic skills, and teachers regularly read quality literature to children. Our curriculum teaches basic concepts like colors, shapes, numbers, and letters, which are the springboard to creativity.