Many parents try to be
perfect, but sometimes their best intentions can backfire without them even
realizing it. Based on Victoria Wilson’s book Boost Your Child’s Creativity (2010), here are 6
common habits which can stifle child’s desire and ability to be creative:
Creative Killer #1: Helping
Young children often find
it frustrating when they are learning something new. They can’t quite work out
how to make their tree look right, or they hold the pen the wrong way up. But
it pays dividends to sit back and let them carry on with whatever they are
trying to do. If you insist on showing them exactly how to draw a tree, you’re
denying them the opportunity to find their own way of drawing it, and to
experiment and learn things on their own. You’re also inadvertently setting
them up for failure – their tree isn’t going to be as good as yours, they are
not going to be able to use pen as easily as you. This can make them feel even
more frustrated. Your child will only gain confidence if you give them the
opportunity to prove to themselves they can do somethings without your help.
Creative Killer #2: The Wrong Toys
Most houses have them,
they toys with bright colours, flashing lights, a variety of songs and perhaps
some Beethoven to help them learn the alphabet. Toys like these are fun, and
have their benefits, but in terms of encouraging your child to be imaginative,
they are creativity killers. Children really do stretch their imaginations
further if they are making up their own songs, or playing with a cardboard
cut-out sword rather than a flashing light sabre.
Creative Killer #3: Deciding What is Right and Wrong
By telling a child the ‘right’ way to paint
the rainbow, or that it’s ‘wrong’ when they bang all the keys on the piano at
once, you are limiting your child’s early experiments. Picasso’s cubist artwork
did not fit with the aesthetic standards of conventional art at the time and
modern classical music might seem out of key and harsh to most listeners. Yet
art and music critics have come to applaud these expressions of creativity
which fall outside the norm by conventional standards. Creativity is all about thinking
outside the normal rules and dreaming up new ways of doing things. This is exactly
what your child is doing when he draws the world upside down or when she
colours the sea pink.
Creative Killer #4: Planning Their Time
Children definitely need
routine and structure in their day, but do be wary of planning your child’s
time too rigidly. Try to allow time each day for ‘unstructured play’ where your
child can choose his or her own activities freely and, where possible, be a
little flexible in cancelling other scheduled activities if your child is
really involved in what they are doing. If your child is thoroughly absorbed,
they are probably contented and learning a good deal.
Creative Killer #5: Right Answer Syndrome
Children love to do things
well and win approval, but beware of cultivating a need in your child to get
things ‘right.’ One of the key traits of creative people is that they are good
at ‘divergent thinking’, which means they can suggest lots of different
potential answers of solutions to a puzzle or question. Of course, sometimes
there is only one right answer. But try to present your child with situations
and tests where they can learn that sometimes there are lots of different
correct answers, and that different people’s responses are all equally valid.
Creative Killer #6: Competition
There is fierce debate
amongst the educationalists about whether competition is good for children. When
it comes to creativity, however, studies such as those by Professor Teresa
Amabile at Brandeis University suggest that competition can negatively
influence creativity. Competition automatically infers that judgement is being
made over the creative product, which can make the child less willing to take
risks and be inventive. In addition, Amabile and many other psychologists argue
that children should be encouraged to enjoy creativity simply because it is an
enjoyable and fulfilling process, not as a means to win contests or rewards. Much
research suggests that rewarding a child simply for doing something creative
eventually lessens their interest in doing creative activities for which they
are not rewarded.
Lord, Give Us Today Our Daily Idea(s)
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