Friday, August 04, 2006
Creativity in Children - Foster Dreams Early!
Many of us have read enough on this, many of those who have written about this, write over and over again - why? is it because creative children are more intelligent and the others or not! No!! Creative children grow up to be more sociable, as their thoughts and actions are always oriented towards discovery - which is an important step towards learning!

And again now, by learning I dont point the next door girl, who always roams with books in one hand and reading glass on the other - it is the ability to understand and adapt thyself to survive as fit as you can in this fast changing world!

How to identify creative children?
1. Creative children have a reputation for wild and silly ideas
2. Are those children who prefer to learn by explorations and discovery.
3. Are the ones who are always inquisitive about things around and always ask " why is....?? or what is..."
4. Are those kids who narrate incidents as stories or come up with their own stories!
And the list goes on....

How to Develop Creativity?
1. Create Independence in Children
Leave your child alone and allow your kid to explore and involve in activities that involve fantasy. Leave your child in a park or garden and ask to find out the different flowers - thats just one example

2. Charity begins at home - Teach right things the right way!
Most children learn by imitating their parents, especially a baby girl imitates her mother and boy his father. Its quite natural - which is why you would have seen many little girls enacting cooking - that is what they mostly see their mother do ( well now thats a debatble question, but never mind I can cook, so If I marry a girl who doesnt know cooking - thats fine! :))
Most parents worry about their son or daughter not eating properly. A closer examination reveals that they have been fed or taught in such a way that they detest food. How many parents switch on the TV, and feed their kids in front of them. Instead try reading a book for them or even feeding your pet dog along with your kid is a great way to start with - your kid understands the value of food and more importantly understand the pleasure of sharing!

3. Avoid judgements and criticism
Criticisms and comparisons always kill creativity - avoid that. Judgements such as "You forgot to put the door in your painted house" or comparsions like " Read like how your brother does" kills their individuality.

4. Provide ample opportunity and Resource
You can't be creative in a jail. Provide enough resources and opportunity. Fill your kids playing room with carboards, scribbing pads, crayons, electronic toys. Create opportunity for them to think - do simple experiments like dropping a stone - and tell them its bcos of something called gravity. Take them for a walk in the woods. It is great to buy them toys, but if possible take them to the industry where they make toys and explain them how it is made or even anything simple as composing a song or building machine can increase their interest.

Finally,remember that ultimately its your kid - forcing is not going to change anything, some kids may need to go through the inadvertently slow and long periods of time to learn - only to eventually burst with exuding success like Einstein!
 
posted by Prasanna Parameswaran at 8:34 AM |


3 Comments:


At 5:16 PM, Blogger Preethe

Hi Prasanna
Thanks for visiting the blog..

I have a 1 yr old boy and we are very confused about the way he should be brought up.
Should we give him all the luxury which we have gained after these many years of hard work .. How can we make him understand the value of money while he still enjoys all the luxury which we didnt have during our childhood..

Bringing up a child is really a BIG responsibility.

And Thanks for all the nice inputs from your post
:-)

 

At 8:16 PM, Blogger starry

Thanks for stopping by my blog. you have a really interesting blog.and I have to agree with you on your post. really good points .true you cannot force your child to be creative it has to be in her or him.

 

At 6:05 AM, Blogger Prasanna Parameswaran

Preethe,
Dont worry stick on to your basic etiquettes in life your son will automatically learn from you.

Its too early for your kid to understand any of the surrounding ego's - but just watch out for stubborness! Thats the first thing kids learn - they think if we cry or wail we will get what we want. You need to prove it wrong. Ofcourse kids 2-4 years exhibit these qualities - so you neednt really worry right now, but anyway, dont lift your kid when he cries for petty issues!
Doing some simple things like celebrating his birthday at some homes(either old aged or orphans) or even disposing his clothes to poor before buying new clothes - will automatically make him realize the value of money - more importantly the value of people. You can start doing all these things by the time he is 4-5 years and now is the time to enjoy the melodious squeaking of your infant - so have fun! :)

Starry(a.k.a Lalitha) - sorry if i got ur name wrong., thanks for your comments. The reality for all this concern on kids is information explosion!!