How to Teach and Nurture Creative Thinking in Kids

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It is said that some kids are born creative while others are just more logical. There might be some truth to it, but it’s also true that creativity can be exercised, especially when a child has proper support from the parents. If you want to guide your kids’ creativity and teach them to use it every day, here are a few ways you can help your child exercise their creative thinking every day.

Allow Kids To Make Choices

Even the youngest of kids can make certain choices that can encourage independent thinking which is crucial for creativity. For instance, you can give your toddler a choice between two foods or allow your preschooler to pick an afternoon activity. Older kids can make more significant choices like how to spend their allowance or how to decorate their room.

Read Together

Reading is not only a great way to put your little ones to sleep but also a wonderful tool that boosts imagination and creativity. Even if your kids are too little to read or understand, the process of reading, looking at pictures, and turning the pages can make new connections in the brain. Older kids can look at photos and guess what’s going to be written on the page. This beloved game is not only fun, but it also exercises creativity, problem-solving, and reading comprehension.

Play Together

Some kids need a bit of help when playing alone or with other kids. Any special needs child can benefit from the right toys that not only exercise their motor skills but also their logical thinking and creativity. There are various thoughtfully-designed special needs toys that are suitable for universal use by all kids. Toys like fidget tools and flashcards with faces, animals, etc. are great for exercising kids’ mobility, social skills as well as creativity because they can be used to create stories and come up with different scenarios.

Allow Them To Ask Questions

No matter how much you love your kids, their questions can often be too much to handle, but don’t stop that inquisitive behavior. Whenever your kids ask questions, do your best to answer them or look up the answers together. Be mindful to encourage creative questions the most, like those starting with “What if” because these require the use of hypothetical thinking and imagination. You can also ask your kids all sorts of “what if” questions and see who can come up with the most interesting answer. Don’t be scared to go off the rails with questions like “What if your dog could talk?” or “What if there was no school?”

Spend Time in Nature to Nature Creative Thinking

Nature is the best catalyst for creative thinking and imagination. Spending time outside is not only good for the body, but it’s also beneficial for the development of curiosity, flexible thinking, and mental endurance. So whenever the weather allows, you can go outside to your backyard, nearby park, or local hiking trail to give your child’s creativity a nice little boost.

Give Kids Time To Be Bored

Naturally, we don’t want our kids to be bored, but boredom is not always a bad thing. If you leave kids to entertain themselves, they will discover a bunch of new and creative ways to play, communicate and create. They might run into a bunch of crayons and start drawing or they might choose to play pretend with their siblings.

Through play, activities, and encouragement, kids can improve all aspects of their lives, creativity included. Don’t hesitate to engage your kids in play, creative work, and research, but also leave them alone from time to time to discover their own ways of being creative. No matter the path they choose to take in the future, creativity will come in very handy.

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Diana Smith

Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls and a passionate traveler. In her free time she enjoys exercising and preparing healthy meals for her family.