new piece at iBelieve<\/a> on the subject. Here\u2019s a taste. Click through to read it all!<\/p>\nNurturing Creativity in Children<\/h1>\nRachel Marie Stone<\/h2>\n
![\"Nurturing](\"https:\/\/media.salemwebnetwork.com\/cms\/IB\/8087-creative%20kid%201_edited.630w.tn.jpg\")
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Many people think of creativity as a trait one either has or doesn\u2019t have, like having dimples in your cheeks, or having brown eyes. In truth, creativity is innate to each one of us, given as a gift by the One who created all things. And like a living thing, creativity can be stifled as well as nurtured.<\/p>\n
In a popular TED talk, British educational adviser Sir Ken Robinson provocatively asked \u201cdo schools kill creativity?\u201d Schools, he argued often enshrine right answers as preferable to divergent thinking, and many schools reinforce the idea (usually indirectly) that a mistake is just about the worst thing a person could do. Yet creativity \u201cis as important in education as literacy,\u201d he says, \u201cand we should treat it with the same status.\u201d<\/p>\n
But how<\/em>? What can parents do to nurture their children\u2019s God-given capacities for creativity?<\/p>\nRealize creativity might not always look the way you expect it to look.<\/strong><\/p>\nMany of us immediately think of paints and canvases\u2013or perhaps of musical instruments or poetry\u2013when we think of \u201ccreativity.\u201d But creativity encompasses more than just the arts. In its essence, creativity is the ability to make something new<\/em>\u2013to put words or ideas or foods or colors or Lego bricks together so as to create something that didn\u2019t previously exist in anyone\u2019s mind but your own: a poem, a scientific theory, a new kind of dessert, a painting, a toy spaceship. Scientific advances and technological innovations require creativity every bit as much as painting murals or playing violin concertos do. So if your child shows no interest in arts and crafts, don\u2019t write him off as \u201cnot creative.\u201d He\u2019s probably just creative in a way you didn\u2019t expect. Which brings us to\u2013<\/p>\nGive your child freedom to pursue his or her interests.<\/strong><\/p>\nIt\u2019s important that children have some freedom to pursue what they are interested in. This doesn\u2019t mean they should never have to engage in activities that they don\u2019t like, of course\u2013it simply means if your seven year old is content to build new things out of Lego for hours on end, you don\u2019t necessarily need to interrupt him to make him do an art project, because chances are he\u2019s already flexing his God-given creative muscles. Some parents are perplexed to find their children aren\u2019t interested in the same sorts of things that they are, but it\u2019s a mistake to assume that because you love music, your children will, too. It\u2019s important to give children a wide range of experiences, but it\u2019s equally important to allow them to become who God created them to be, instead of trying to mold them in our own image.<\/p>\n
Offer your child a safe space that\u2019s free from too much criticism, and<\/em> too much praise<\/strong><\/p>\nFor creativity to flourish, a child needs to feel safe. She needs to know what she makes, says, or thinks will not be harshly criticized, and that she is not<\/em> loved conditionally<\/em>, the condition being she performs well and makes no mistakes. Essential to creative success, notes psychologist of creativity Mihalyi Czikszentmihalyi, is a high tolerance for making mistakes, and we develop that when we learn a mistake is not the worst thing in the world. We can instill this necessary confidence in our children first by loving them unconditionally, as God loves us, and then by communicating to them that their beings, <\/em>not their doings<\/em>, are what are most precious to us. A firm resolve not to criticize or mock their efforts\u2013or to base your affection for them on their talents and gifts\u2013can help strengthen their willingness to explore and take creative risks.<\/p>\n{Continue reading\u2026}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m far from an expert on the subject, but I think the key word is nurture: creativity is there within our children; it\u2019s not something we need to inculcate but simply something that must be tended, guarded, and allowed to flourish. I have a new piece at iBelieve on the subject. Here\u2019s a taste. Click […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2070,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2664,625,1561,1686,2063],"class_list":["post-4874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-children","tag-creativity","tag-mihalyi-czikszentmihalyi","tag-nurturing-creativity","tag-sir-ken-robinson"],"yoast_head":"\n
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