How To Foster Your Child’s Creativity

Fostering a creative child has more benefits than you might know about. Not only does it help them mature mentally, emotionally, and socially, but it helps your child develop social skills and decision-making skills. As your child grows older, society’s structure and pressures can hinder a lot of their imaginative expressions, so it is essential that your child uses their creativity to establish confidence, independence, self-reliance, self-esteem, spontaneity, and more. At Compass Early Learning, we strive to help your child find and develop their creative side through our early childhood education. Our Preschool Adventures offers a holistic curriculum that will not only encourage life-long learning, but will engage your child in creative exploration! Contact us today to schedule a tour or find out more about our preschool classrooms and infant care. ​

Create A Space For Creative Engagement 
Designating a space where your child can explore their creativity is important. Not only does it keep the rest of your house a little cleaner, but allowing your child to have a corner or even a  portion of the living room to play dress up, play with LEGOs, or simply draw, will allow them to feel power over the space. Creativity can flourish even in the most cramped places, so when children feel like they have the resources and the space to be themselves and explore their ideas, you can expect their freedom and autonomy to flourish as well.  

Invest In Open-Ended Toys
Open-ended toys, like stuffed animals, LEGOs, building blocks, and anything else that can be used in a multitude of ways will help foster your child’s creative side. LEGOs can be built and rebuilt into castles, cars, homes, giant people — whatever your child desires in that moment! Stuffed animals become more than just stuffed animals when they are signing the Declaration of Independence, or saving a planet in a different solar system from intergalactic warfare. The opportunities really are limitless with these open-ended toys.  

Give Them Free Time
Structured creative endeavors, like art class or dance class, help to build your child’s creativity in a methodical way. They do not, however, give your child the creative room they need to breathe and really be themselves. Kiddos need the freedom and the time to explore their thoughts and imagination at a pace or location that isn’t being controlled. Allow your kid a few hours at home without any activities scheduled so they can play and putter around. You can even let them activate their senses by taking them to the library, to a museum, or just take them outdoors and let them explore. In any of these places, they can imagine traveling to faraway places or meeting imaginary friends that will help them on a secret adventure. 

Offer Feedback And Not Criticism 
Criticism comes when you try to manage or overparenting dampens the ability to be creative. Don’t hover over your child and constrain them externally — by telling them to color inside the lines, so to speak — because it can also reduce their flexibility with creative thinking. Embrace their creations and their imaginative thoughts by asking them questions about it. Kids have their own thought processes, so if we can’t understand what they’re trying to communicate, it helps to just ask! It shows greater interest and helps you understand what’s happening inside their minds. Celebrate their ideas by voluntarily asking to hear them. It shows kids that ideas aren’t scary and neither is offering your opinion.

Fostering a creative environment for your children is a great way to instill the skills and mindset your kiddo’s need to feel confident and prepared to take on the world around them! You are helping them acquire the knowledge that they will take into the future with them, helping to build a rich and fulfilling life. More than that, however, it helps make your home more fun. Exploring our imaginations is something we can all benefit from! To learn more about Compass Early Learning, or to schedule a tour, contact us today!