I’m posting on a Tuesday this week as part of today’s Ultimate Blog Swap! You’ll find me posting about one of my other passions – cooking- over at Mostly Food and Crafts. I’ll cover both the food and the crafts by sharing one of my favorite pasta recipes, Butterfly Noodles, and some fun insect activities to go with it. And I’m so happy to share with you this wonderful post from Kelly of the blog Wisdom Begun, as well as a fantastic discount for the ebook Art Not Craft! Read on to get all the goodness!
Children are naturally creative. They love to touch and build and make and re-make. Their hands and minds can come up with some of the most unique artwork I have ever seen. I enjoy watching my children as they color a picture because essentially that picture represents how THEY see things.
Unfortunately I am NOT on the creative side. I am more logical and tend to work better with a set structure. I also tend to dread any type of craft-time because the mess involved alone gets my skin crawling.
However, my inadequacies and dread of the extra work is not something important enough to keep my kids from learning through art. And so I have come up with a few ideas that I like to keep in the back of my mind when allowing my children to explore their creative sides.
1. Keep messy crafts outside as much as possible. Unfortunately, craft and art time with children involves glue and glitter and paint and paper. This can give even the best-intentioned parent, but especially those non-creative types, a desire to run the other way instead of encouraging active learning. Letting children do their art work outside has the benefit of not only keeping the mess outside, but also letting them learn from nature as they work.
2. Have clothes set aside for these times that you do not mind getting ruined. Despite the fact that much of the finger paint I buy for my children is labeled as “washable,” we still seem to have trouble keeping the clothes from getting too dirty to wear again. I like to prevent this by setting aside old or stained clothes just for the purpose of wearing when it is craft time. A large smock or one of daddy’s undershirts also works very well for this purpose.
3. Ask them what they want to do! As the parent, it is not always necessary to plan every activity. When it comes to encouraging our children to use their imagination, sometimes the best way is to just let them decide what they want to do. My children’s desires have ranged from building pyramid replicas from play dough while we are learning about ancient Egypt to practicing hand-eye coordination while cutting out stars.
4. Do the crafts with them! Adults tend to forget that they too can learn along with their little ones. It can be very therapeutic to mold clay with our children or to paint a large birthday banner. Making beaded jewelry and building moats in a sand box can be just plain fun and even relaxing.
5. Break up the activities. Don’t always just color or just paint. Branch out from your family’s normal art activities and learn new things together as a family. Instead of directing your children as to what they need to do to make something, why not ask them to teach you how to do something. You may just find your new hobby in the process.
Regardless of whether you are or are not creative yourself, you can still encourage your child’s creativity with these few tips. You will have less of a headache and your children will appreciate your efforts. While learning is sometimes messy, it is worth it in the end and you will be glad you stuck through it.
Are YOU a creative type? Do you enjoy doing hands-on activities with your children? What tips would you have to give parents who are not creative?
Photo credit: Jeff Prieb.
Kelly writes at Wisdom Begun, a blog that is designed to encourage women to be as efficient as possible in the home. She is married to her best friend and is a mother to five (and one or two waiting for her in Africa). She keeps busy through homeschooling, learning graphic and web design in her spare time, and filling out paperwork for the adoption process. Kelly is also a life-time learner, researching topics as she is able to satisfy her curiosity. She loves to share what she learns in posts on Wisdom Begun in order to help others.
If Kelly’s post has put you in a creative mood, check out Christie Burnett’s ebook, Art Not Craft, a fantastic creative art resource. And through the end of this month, Christie is offering a discount of $3 when you use the code ‘KIDS’. Click here to visit Childhood 101 and learn more about Art Not Craft.
Also, check out yesterday’s post to get my free ebook Creativity Matters . It’s a short read about the importance of creativity for our kids, why it may be threatened, and how to get it back.
{Visit Life…Your Way to see all of the Ultimate Blog Swap participants!}
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