Enhancing the Creativity of Your Child

Arne and his brother would sometimes take a familiar theme and embellish it. One time the theme was birds. The boys "became" birds, each with its own identity. They invented whole scenarios around this theme, incorporating their parents as other characters, expecting them to play along. The boys also created songs and poems about their imaginary bird characters. They used a tape recorder to create a "cheepie" radio show; they used the video camera to create a "cheepie" television show. Their mother had a struggle with them at mealtime, because the boys wanted to eat their food with their "beaks," pretending the food was birdseed or worms or insects. Arne and his brother took soft blankets and created "nests," sleeping in them at night. They walked around the house with their hands placed under their armpits so their arms looked like wings. Picking anything up became very difficult. This fantasy went on for months.�

Definition of Creativity�
To be creative is to be different. As with most characteristics, this may have a positive or negative affect on the life of a child. Some children express their creativity within the parameters of the acceptable. They decorate their rooms in unusual yet attractive ways or they create innovative posters for projects at school. But many children, because of their creative tendencies, break the boundaries of what is acceptable. They challenge the rules set down by adults and they think of new ways of doing things that may be unacceptable or even dangerous.�

As adults we can do much to enhance the positive creative ability of children. In doing so, we need to balance creativity with safety, tolerance, and understanding.�

Tips for Parents�
At home a child may find new ways for using everyday objects. Like many mothers of young children, Romero's mom spent hours child-proofing her home; nevertheless, she was often frightened by the things that Romero did. To make matters worse, Romero was physically able at an early age and he seemed to have no fear. Frequently he would find dangerous uses for everyday objects, like the time he wanted to use his sled to slide down the basement stairs.�

As parents we must help creative children develop behavior which will allow them freedom of thinking and expression without being dangerous or offensive. You can help your child in the following ways:�

Provide Opportunities-Try not to get upset if a work-in-progress causes a bit of a mess in the house. While it's important to teach children order and neatness, there is a time and place for temporary chaos. During messy activities, parents should protect household items, teach children proper respect for things around them, and show the proper use of materials.�

Less is More When Buying Toys-A child will use more of her imagination when using items that are simple. Often objects found around the house can hold more fascination than store-bought toys.�

Questioning Techniques-Ask questions that do not have just one answer. Ask "How can you remember your school work?" not "What were you taught about remembering your school work?"

When reading with a child, ask some open-ended questions. A good rule of thumb is, if you already know the right answer, it's not a creative question. Ask "How would the story Little Red Riding Hood have changed if the wolf had been a different animal?" not "What kind of animal wanted to eat Little Red Riding Hood?"

Elements of Creativity�
There are four elements of creativity: fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. These elements can be used to strengthen creativity.�

Fluency: The ability to generate many ideas

With your child, list as many ideas as possible on a given subject. (i.e., all the things we could do to have fun, ways to be kind to one another, objects made out of wood, ideas for a school project, ways to earn money.�

Flexibility: The ability to change direction readily

Events in our lives do not always go as planned. In order to adapt to change, we need to be flexible. Discuss with children the value of handling change and disappointment in constructive ways. Set up practice scenarios. What would you do if we planned a wonderful vacation and suddenly had to cancel it? What if you worked hard on a school assignment and just as you were about to put it in your backpack your little brother spilled milk all over it?

Another way to practice flexibility is to attempt to break psychological barriers of thinking about something in a traditional manner. Help students to think of new ways to use objects. How many different ways can you use a newspaper? What are all the ways you can use "free" time at school? It's OK to get a little crazy with these ideas.�

Originality: Coming up with new and unusual ideas

Ask your child to imagine an ideal hideaway or a perfect house for your family. Encourage her to create an imaginary day where she could do anything she wanted to do.�

Elaboration: Adding many details

Take a simple sentence, such as "There was a house on the street." Begin asking questions to help your child build a story around this sentence using many details. What does the house look like? What color is it? Is it landscaped? How many windows and doors does it have? Is it in the city or country? Who lives there? What is that person like? Your child will see how he can create stories by embellishing basic ideas.�

Give your child a simple shape such as a straight line or a circle. Ask her to draw a picture using that shape. Tell her to add many details.�

Maintain a "creativity box" of odds and ends. Some items that might be included are scraps of material, foil, empty milk cartons, corrugated paper, egg cartons, small boxes, pictures from old greeting cards, and stickers. These materials can be used for directed projects, or your children can create whatever they would like.