Parenting Pointers: Encouraging Creativity

Disclosure: I am a Minnesota Children's Museum Smart Play Ambassador. All opinions are my own.

Kids are extremely creative. The Minnesota Children's Museum has an exhibit called Creativity Jam that my kids absolutely loved last time we were there, and often have other creative activities incorporated into various other exhibits. Plus, there's the face painting cart we always have to stop at. The MCM Smart Play website has an article called Creative Thinking: More Than Just Art up right now - and it's true. Creativity isn't just being able to paint or draw.

When you inspire creative thinking in your kids, you're encouraging them to think outside the box, to come up with unique solutions they may not already have tried, to explore their feelings and the world around them. Adults can be creative when they find ways to reuse or fix something that's broken, when they solve a difficult problem, or when they do goofy things to pull a kid out of a bad mood.

Even if you don't see yourself as being creative, there are things you can do to encourage your own child's creative skills.
- Encourage free form discovery. Building kids right from the instructions is fun, but let them explore their own art or building skills by providing the tools without any instructions.
- Expose your kids to creative pursuits. Take them to an art museum or a concert - most museums and classical performing groups have special events geared for kids. Talk about what you see and hear.
- If your kids come up with a crazy idea, don't knock it down right away. Help them explore and refine it instead.
- Take turns telling a story, one sentence at a time.
- Pose a crazy scenario, and ask your kids what they'd do. For example, "If an alligator was tap dancing in the street, how could we get him to learn ballet instead?"

Creativity is a great - and easy - skill to develop! It just takes a little flexibility.