WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

Understanding creativity will enable you to encourage your family to BE creative—independently, collectively, across different domains, and over time.

Helping children learn to appreciate creativity is akin to giving them a gift that never loses its value.

Why? Because being creative is like tapping into a superpower! It’s a means of taking hold of possibilities to see new things, meet challenges, and resolve issues. Creativity brings joy, enlivens curiosity, sparks the intellect, and enhances neural connections. Imagine your brain consists of millions and millions of pathways like tangled vines, and bursts of light flash all along those pathways every millisecond. That’s creative energy in action!

Creativity is always available for those who want to use it. Whether it’s tucked within your imagination or stashed wherever you keep special moments and ideas, you can actualize creativity by stretching your mind. You can think divergently, generating lots of different ideas and selecting the ones that are most appealing or intriguing. You can think convergently, narrowing possibilities and then focusing on something specific. Or you can think critically, becoming more disciplined around ideas by analyzing them and figuring out how to take them to the next level.

HOW DOES CREATIVITY DEVELOP?

Creativity develops step by step. Sometimes this involves circumventing roadblocks or mastering challenges along the way. Creativity requires effort. It doesn’t necessarily ignite—WHAM!—although spontaneous “eureka” moments do sometimes occur. Creativity often accrues over time, requiring deep thought, hard work, and patience. You and your family can practice creativity by embarking upon something unfamiliar and breaking free of routines.

Creativity is borne of wonder, excitement, astonishment, and innovation.

You and your family can practice creativity by embarking upon something unfamiliar and breaking free of routines. Creativity is borne of wonder, excitement, astonishment, and innovation. Try putting things together in ways you may never have considered before. Then feel the ensuing pride and sense of accomplishment!

Remember, however, that creativity is not just about having an end-product such as a completed poem, a beautifully decorated cake, or a catchy song. Look at creativity as a journey—a “getting there” situation—and an opportunity to discover and extend areas of interest, areas of strength, and areas of weakness, too. Pick up some paintbrushes. Write stories. Draw. Experiment. Take time. Enjoy the process of creating something that’s surprising, different, and unique.

THE ROLE OF ADULTS

Parents, teachers, caregivers, and family members can encourage children’s creativity by embracing their own creativity. This means choosing to be creative and then openly demonstrating that. Invite others to join in creative processes, to share ideas (whimsical, unusual, scientific, mysterious), to be supportive, and to help one another find information or resources on the many kinds of creative activities families can enjoy together.

Think about creative ways to honor your uniqueness, and that of the children in your life.

Brainstorm how your family can build upon creative efforts and have fun investigating new avenues of expression through music, dance, sports, art, or other means. (Check out my blog page at https://joannefoster.ca/blog/.)

Capitalize on abilities, motivate children’s explorations, and encourage advancement, whether in gardening, woodworking, robotics, cooking, or whatever. Those who engage in creativity learn to appreciate it more—and fuel other people’s creativity as well. Seek outlets and supports that will enable you and your children to feel positive, to build momentum, and to play with creative expression. Extend what matters in your life, and what matters to your family. Believe in yourself. Believe in them. And believe in the power of creativity!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Joanne Foster is an award-winning author of several books. (See Ignite Your Ideas: Creativity for Kids.) For more information, and for resources on learning, creativity, productivity, and children’s well-being—and to subscribe to her newsletter—go to https://joannefoster.ca