collaborative post
Being able to think creatively to solve problems and overcome challenges will benefit your child throughout their life. Children are naturally imaginative, but they need a little help to harness their creativity and apply it to everyday life. If you’re keen to help your child with this, read on for some advice from a private boys’ school in London.
Stimulate their imagination
Make sure your child has plenty of opportunities to apply imaginative thinking. Offering them a wide range of books to read, drawing and painting materials to create art, and the chance to make things using different materials will stimulate their creativity. Play is also a great way to do this.
The type of activity will depend on your child’s age, but simple things like building a den in the woods, geocaching or role-playing enable children to see life from a different perspective and solve problems using creative thinking.
Encourage storytelling
Whether your child is an avid reader or not, you can help them become more creative by encouraging them to tell or write their own stories using their imagination. You could even write a story together if they find the thought of doing it on their own a little daunting - take it in turns to write a paragraph each and see what you come up with.
You could also buy your child a journal so they can write creatively about their life and events that have happened to them.
Ask them questions
You can stimulate your child’s imagination by asking them open-ended questions about things they see and do. After watching a movie together, ask them what they thought of particular characters or events, and after you’ve started reading a new book ask them what they think could happen next.
Asking questions like these will enhance their understanding while also getting them into the habit of thinking creatively.
Set problem-solving challenges
Being able to think imaginatively helps with finding solutions to problems. You can help your child with this by playing games together that require them to think creatively, or setting them small challenges to test their problem-solving skills. As an example, you could challenge them to use everyday objects from around the home to make a model, or help you design a new garden area. Make sure you praise your child for using their imagination to produce something.
As we grow older we tend to lose our imagination a little, but as you can see there is a lot you can do as a parent to help your child keep their sense of curiosity and wonder at the world around them.
