10 Ways to Encourage Creativity in Children
As parents, many of us constantly search for new ways to inspire and encourage our children’s curiosity, creativity, and interest in the world around them, and help them grow up successful, innovative and productive members of our society. So, how do you encourage creativity in your children? Read on…
How to boost creativity in children:
- Role Playing. “Mom, can you play with me?”
How often do we hear those words? And what kind of games do our kids want to play most? The most exciting and creative play is a role playing. How do you role play with your kids? Begin by making up new games, songs and stories. Then, come up with outfits and characters’ voices for your new song or story. Lastly, take turns playing and draw new ideas. Make pictures and videos to share with friends and family! Not only such games can go on for hours and even days but they boost creativity in our children and bond us with our kids tighter, creating a more satisfying relationship. - Building Things. I didn’t have Legos as a child, but I recall building
many working toy cars (school buses, taxis, dump trucks). I used sheets of cartoon for the vehicles’ bodies, round cups for wheels, pencils for chassis, and a miniature motor for my toy’s engines. When I went to the 1st grade in the former USSR, I learned the basics of the science in a class and was subscribed to the kids’ magazine called “Young Technician”. I was further fascinated with ways to produce electricity and proudly showcased electrical wire connections to my dad. Nowadays, being a busy working mom, I fix minor electrical problems around the house and enjoy doing it. - Telling Stories. All kids love telling stories. Writing those stories down, drawing scenes and characters, and publishing them online on the kid-friendly websites, make the projects fun, memorable and gift-appropriate. Additionally, storytelling improves vocabulary and boost creativity in an explosive way in children. How else do you encourage creativity in children?
- Sharing Photos. A number of internet-based image publishing companies help create the original projects about your recent trip, school event, or a holiday with ease and then even share and collaborate with friends and family.
- Learning to play an instrument. Growing up in the musically-inclined family of the engineers,
I began taking piano and singing lessons at age 5. Even though I did not like practicing scales as a young child, I vividly remember exciting daily activities with my childhood friend. Together we composed musical duets on the piano and then played them shyly for our parents in four hands! - Taking singing lessons. Running a music school business, I often tell parents how fun voice lessons are! Personally, I have never met a child who would not like singing. Having taking vocal lessons and participating in a choir as a child, and then conducting a children’s choir as an adult, I have seen children transform during the singing lessons, forgetting the thoughts of daily troubles, learning to focus, and diving into the world of music, beauty and dreams.
- Staging a Theatrical Show. When I was growing up, my parents’ friends’
and our families 
met weekly for cheerful sport, theater, musical or fun gathering activities. One of those gatherings was the theatrical shows, which we were staging in someone’s living room and then recording on a video camera. We created names for our shows, plots, actors and roles. Furthermore, we invented ridiculous and hilarious outfits. At last, during the performances, our shows were frequently interrupted by our own laughter. Then there were even more laughter during video viewing times. - Performing as a Family. Singing together,
making up songs and performing as a group is an incredible, relaxing and enjoyable activity for a whole family. Try it today! - Making Art. We shop at a local wholesale store. Besides purchasing grocery items, we pick very large cartoon papers- otherwise thrown away- for projects and take them home.
The personnel of the store thanks us for recycling the package material in a fun way. Those huge cartoon papers along together with paints, brushes, stickers, cut-out stamps made of potatoes, bell peppers, and so on, unable my kids and I create roads, cities, holiday arts, music instruments, and great mood any time! Find some of our projects here: Music DIY for Kids) - Learning a new language. I feel joy watching children switch with ease between two or more languages. Being a bilingual parent, I learned two new languages as an adult and benefited from the new skills not only by enjoying the process of learning and improving my memory, but also by freely using them in different companies of friends, at work, and by reading some of the world literature in the original language. In addition, learning a new language is becoming more and more accesible with the help of internet and phone apps that are easy to download and begin using on the go.Connect with Music Teacher LA on social media and let us know what other stories and articles you’d like to read on our blog!
About the author:
Olesya MacNeil graduated with the three Masters’ Degrees in Music Performance, Pedagogy, and Elementary School Education. Moreover, she has been teaching children and adults to play piano and sing since 1991. Furthermore, Olesya founded the music school called “Music Teacher LA”, based in Los Angeles. Their school provides quality in-home music lessons in piano, voice, guitar, violin and drums. Lastly, Olesya trains her teachers and strives to make every music lesson educational and fun!
Not to mention, Olesya’s Music Teacher LA today provides a few hundreds of weekly lessons to the Los Angeles families!
Looking for highly professional, creative and fun Los Angeles Music Lessons?
Call today at (310) 220-0405 to schedule your initial lesson, or learn more about our Los Angeles Music Lessons.
