Thinking In Young Children”

While it is true that children need to develop knowledge and skills, they also need to learn how to think. It is equally important for them to know how to create ideas from scratch. Creativity is a skill that can make a huge difference in how much success and enjoyment your child gets out of life.
 “Creativity cannot be left to chance, it must be valued, encouraged and expected – and seen as essential to all teaching and learning.”                                                                                      - Robert Fisher
Here are some easy activities that will help spark your child’s creativity.
Open-ended thinking.
Encourage open-ended thinking. This is where there are no right or wrong answers – only unlimited possibilities. Drop your structured activities and let your kids go outside and play. Let them do ‘free style’ arts and crafts. Invite them to make something from paper, paints, scraps, glue, clay, trinkets, crayons, rubbers bands, markers, paper clips, buttons, yarn, and anything else available. Give them toys they can play with in a variety of ways like blocks, legos, board games, musical instruments, dress up clothes and a lot of books.
Model creativity.
You may be a carpenter, a gourmet chef or an auto mechanic. It doesn’t matter. Encourage your child to join your creative efforts. Involve them; tell them stories, role play with them, dance with them. Through activities like these, your child will discover many ways to express his or her creativity.
Dialogue with your kids.
Take time to talk with your child about anything under the sun, including the sun. It is vital to encourage children to seek solutions and draw their own conclusions whenever possible. Give them time to explore and to experiment with various ways to solve problems. These experiences will teach them to try new ideas, which in turn develop their confidence and strengthens their creative thinking abilities.

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