Creativity, which can be defined as "the use of the imagination or original ideas" or the act of "coming up with novel ideas," is something that many parents want to help their children develop. However, creativity is not as simple as enrolling the child into a painting or an arts and crafts class - the secret to creative children is surrounding them with an environment that fosters creative thinking.

Child development and educational professionals believe...
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Creativity, which can be defined as "the use of the imagination or original ideas" or the act of "coming up with novel ideas," is something that many parents want to help their children develop. However, creativity is not as simple as enrolling the child into a painting or an arts and crafts class - the secret to creative children is surrounding them with an environment that fosters creative thinking.

Child development and educational professionals believe that while talent cannot be passed on like hair color or body build, parents can train their children's eyes, ears, and minds. Children can be taught how to see the world differently and how to think "outside the box." They can also learn how to concentrate and persevere toward the pursuit of creative activities.

Recent studies on creativity have produced surprising results. The researchers began by assuming that the "artist-type" children - recommended by art teachers as the most creative in the class - are typically disorganized and "offbeat" students that performed poorly in their other classes. Most of the creative students excelled in other classes, have more concentration, planned their projects ahead, and often dedicated more time to do a "thorough job" in completing their projects. While all of these characteristics do not automatically exhibit talent in creative pursuits, the results go on to show that creativity and competence go together.

So how do parents raise creative children? First, they must accept that "neatness" is often overrated. Neatness in the child's surroundings typically engenders plenty of rules that do not encourage the child to think outside the box. Taking risks and not being afraid to get their hands dirty are hallmarks of creative children. In this vein, children that are often stopped by their parents by doing harmless yet seemingly wrong things are not very creative. Allowing your child to explore the world around him without uptight rules - however, you must make sure that safety issues are taken care of - will spark his interest in a wide variety of things.

Designing activities to focus on process and play instead of productivity can also help parents raise creative children. Praising the child for how hard he has been working on a drawing (instead of how many he can do in one sitting) can affirm his pleasure in the process of creating the artwork. As a parent, you have to allow your child to be different - he does not have to conform to what the rest of the world expects from him all the time. Often, kids with inventive and original minds can be quite different from the other children - and they might feel obliged to follow the current because they want to belong. Tell your child that it is okay to be different and it could mean a whole world of a difference for him.
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