Raising Creative Children » raising creative children

Happy Mother’s Day

Lorelei — Sun, 10 May 2009 04:03:16 +0000

To all you mothers out there, I wish you the very best! May your day be truly special and memorable,whether it is filled with sticky kisses from children or grandchildren, or with aging parents and grandparents. I hope that it is filled with love and respect, peace, joy, and that special magic God calls family.

I just returned from a trip to Wisconsin, to the farm I have for sale. I had two of my grown children living there, taking care of the livestock, until it sells, which we hope is soon. By the way – any one here interested in 26 scenic acres in central Wisconsin with a 3+ bedroom split level home built in 1970? We have a small flock of sheep and a dog sled team there now. It has a pond, pasture, woods, hills, everything – except a job nearby for my husband. Anyway, I had a busy, but wonderful week with my daughters. They are 20 and 23, and such lovely young women. All week I was filled with a mother’s pride. These people came from me! Out of my belly, out of the love I share with my husband. If it weren’t for me, they would not be here! In some small way, I have changed the world, by bringing them into the world, and by sharing them – releasing them – into the world.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit maudlin, but that’s how I felt.

Now I’m back in my apartment with my darling husband. I will be going to Mass in the morning, then out to brunch with my husband, two daughters, and my granddaughter. The rest of the afternoon is open. Not sure if we’ll rent a movie, go to the park, or play a game of cards, but it promises to be a pleasant, quiet time at home for all of us.

I will have the next week of lesson plans up before Monday morning – but it’s late now, and I need to get to bed. Thank you, all of you, for coming back every week, for your comments, your support, and your tweets!
Sincerely,

Lorelei Sieja

Ten Steps to Boost Your Child’s Creativity

Lorelei Sieja — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:41:09 +0000

Raising a creative child has little to do with nature and a lot to do with nurture. Creativity isn’t “born”. We all have the capacity for creativity, and if we encourage our creativity, it will grow. Here are some simple steps you can take right now to nurture your child’s creative spirit.

Set boundaries and limitations

Setting Limits Can Boost Your Child's Creativity

Total freedom inhibits creativity. Think about that – if you can do anything you want any time you want, you don’t have to think up a creative way to achieve your goals given your situation. Total freedom creates anarchy and laziness. We don’t live in a totally free world. We have to obey the law, and we have to get a job. Our children should learn to live within these limitations. Our children should have set bedtimes. They should have a time to eat, to take a nap, to take a bath or shower, to pick up their toys, to do their chores, and a time to play. Within those boundaries and limitations, encourage your child to find ways to enjoy them. “Can you pick up all the yellow toys before the timer goes off?” “Can you find five toys that float?” “Can you make a face on your pizza (or pancake) with these topping ingredients?”

Play thinking games with your child

Encourage him to think, to dream, to explore ideas. “What would happen if,” is a good start. What do you think would happen if we took a bath before we went out to play, instead of at night before bed?” “What would happen if we put red ice cubes and blue ice cubes in a glass to melt?” Other favorite thinking games include, “I spy with my little eye….something ______________.” You fill in the blank. Perhaps you say “something red.” Then your child starts naming red things he sees in that room. “Is it the coffee pot? The curtains? The magazine?” If he doesn’t guess in a few turns, you add another clue. “Something red and square.” The game continues until he guesses the item. Then it is his turn to make you guess. For more ideas on thinking games or activities, visit the lessons page.

READ! A Lot!

Good Books Develop the Imagination

Read books to your child. Lots of books! Reading broadens the brain, stretches the horizon, builds strong character, helps the child to gather lifetimes of experience. Highly creative people are readers. They read everything. Don’t just read your child pictures books. Read to him off the backs of cereal boxes. Read road signs to him. Read a magazine article to him. Read the dictionary and the encyclopedia. Read children’s non-fiction. And help him learn to read when he’s ready, but don’t push early reading if he is not ready. (Check out “The Pros and Cons of Early Reading.”)

Don’t watch T.V.

Ever. It is a proven fact that TV turns your brain to mush and worms begin to feed on it.

Take your child outside often

Go for walks. Go to the park, the zoo, the baseball diamond, a parade, the fire station, the coffee shop. Walk, don’t take the car. If you live too far away, drive to town, but park in a parking lot away from your destination and walk around town. Bring a wagon or stroller if your child is younger. We need to be outside. Our bodies synthesize vitamin D from sunlight. We need at least 1 hour outside every day, or we become vitamin D deficient, which is linked to many diseases and health concerns including high blood pressure, several cancers, osteoporosis, seasonal adjustment disorder, rickets, and diabetes. But since this post is more on creativity than health, going out for a walk is a great way to stimulate the brain.

Listen to music

Not just the radio. Leaving a radio on all the time does more harm than good. Children learn to ignore, or tune out, instead of learning how to listen. Make music special. Play it at special times, then turn it off. Play a variety of music. Play folk music, blues, jazz, contemporary, even Disney musicals. Encourage your child to dance to music, to move, even to color a picture of the way the music makes him feel. Taking music lessons may also be a good idea, with the right teacher.

No Coloring Books

Children Need to Express Themselves Through Art

Give him large sheets of blank paper when he colors, not coloring books. Encourage him to make his own pictures. Coloring in coloring books is a way of passing time, but not of creating art. Provide for a variety of art experiences. Maybe he will color on Mondays, paint on Tuesdays, sculpt with clay on Wednesdays, cut and paste collages on Thursdays, and choose his favorite on Fridays.

No Battery-operated toys

Provide open-ended toys, remove all battery or electric powered toys. Have your child play with blocks, not electric trains. Have him play with puzzles, not video games. Let him build a fort out of your kitchen table, with some sheets and blankets and clothespins, instead of buying a fort from a box.

Teach him new vocabulary words

As a toddler, he is learning new words all the time. Help him to name everything he sees. “This is a tree, but that is a bush. See how much smaller it is? What’s that one over there, a tree or a bush?” Preschoolers know a lot of words already. Now it is time to begin the word-a-day that you will do for the rest of the time he lives under your roof. Chose a new word, print it on a card, and post it either near the calendar or kitchen table. Use the word ten times that day, and ten times tomorrow. You can stop reviewing that word when you hear your child using it correctly. Children with large vocabularies out-perform their peers on standardized tests. Children with large vocabularies can express themselves more clearly. No, they are not feeling angry. They might be frustrated or overwhelmed or chagrined, but children with small vocabularies will still just be angry.

Love him unconditionally

Unconditional Love is the Greatest Gift You Can Give Your Child

Now we come to the single most important way to encourage your child’s innate creativity. Love him! Love him lots. Tell him all the time. Hug him before breakfast and say, “I love you.” Hug him often. Continue to tell him how much you love him, even as he grows too big to hear it. Find a fun way to love your growing child that won’t embarrass him in front of his peers. Children who know, absolutely know, they are loved, are free to reach their full potential. Thomas Edison flunked math in school. His neighbors and teachers didn’t think he was very bright. He sat on a nest of eggs once when he was ten years old, to see if he could hatch them! His parents didn’t pressure him to apply himself more. They didn’t over-schedule his free time with soccer, Tee ball, music lessons, scouting outings, and field trips. He had the time to sit on a nest of eggs to see what would happen. Thomas Edison, who was awarded 1368 separate patents, named the most influential figure of the millennium, had a mother who loved him unconditionally.

For further reading,
The Pros and Cons of Early Reading
Vitamin D Deficiencies in Children
Defining Creativity
Play Areas for Encouraging Creativity
Suzuki Music

Photo Credits:
Top:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kazmizandlils/ / CC BY 2.0
books:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kazmizandlils/ / CC BY 2.0
Painting:http://www.flickr.com/photos/edgygrrrl/ / CC BY 2.0
Bottom:http://www.flickr.com/photos/edenpictures/ / CC BY 2.0

Play Areas for Encouraging Creativity

Lorelei Sieja — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:01:15 +0000

Play can be divided into seven major categories. In no particular order, these are Dramatic Play, Block Play, Outdoor Play (or sometimes called “large muscle play”), Table Play (also sometimes called “small motor control”), Art, Music, and Books. If you have some items in each category, then you have a complete play room. If, however, when you sort through your child’s toys, you find one category is very small or missing completely, then you have a good idea what to get for the next birthday or Christmas. Conversely, if one area is overflowing with toys, some of those could be culled.
Dramatic Play

A Two-Year Old Playing House

Dramatic Play is also called “playing house”, but it is so much more than that. It includes any type of role playing, from fairy princesses, to cowboys, to firemen, to space cadets, to play-acting the part of an animal, or even a plant. Dramatic play includes playing with puppets, stuffed toys, dolls, finger puppets, dress-ups, costumes, and face paint. Every playroom should have a dramatic play area, regardless of whether you have girls or boys.

Toy kitchens can be quite an investment. Childcraft makes a hardwood kitchen ensemble – the kind found in many kindergartens and day cares – that sells for $849.00, not including shipping and tax. Toys R Us sells a smaller, one piece version that is closer to $100. If you check on Ebay, you may find something used within your budget. You could even make a temporary one out of cardboard boxes for now.

Toy kitchens, of course, need toy dishes, pots and pans. Toy food is not necessary. Most children just enjoy pretending, and adding the toy food makes more to pick up at the end of play. If you wish, you could experiment with a few plastic food toys, and watch how your child plays with them. Once in a while it is fun to add water to the toy kitchen sink, but this should be a special, only with permission, rainy day priviledge, and not something your child is allowed to do regularly. You don’t want mold growing on damp toys.

Toy kitchens need baby dolls, doll clothes, dress-up clothes, purses, old adult shoes, a necktie or two, hats, and whatever else you can imagine. Most of this you can gather at Good Will or a second-hand store, or even from your own closet. Making doll clothes is not hard. If you don’t sew, ask a grandparent, godparent, or good neighbor to make them for you. For little children, make sure to use large buttons, large snaps, or large velcro spots, to make it easier for little fingers.

Finally, you can add specific play boxes to the dramatic play area, ones that you rotate from time to time. This is the greatest trick to renew interest in old toys, and to keep the playroom from becoming so overflowing with stuff that the child can’t pick it all up. Put some away! Maybe this month you bring out the duplos and the doctor play kit. Next month you put them away in a storage closet, and bring out the tonka trucks and fireman play kit. Get the idea?

Some children’s libraries even stock play kits for you to borrow at no charge! Check out your library, and if they don’t already do this, suggest they do! Our local library has over 60 simple playkits. Right now we have the Curious George one checked out. It comes with a stuffed Curious George doll, a flannel board with enough pieces to retell several stories, two books, and a list of suggested activities for the parent!

I will post ideas for indivdual play kits in another article.

Block Play

Blocks Develop Large Muscles, Spacial Awareness, Form, Balance, Creativity, and Working Together

Entire books have been written on the importance of block play. I’m talking here about the large, hardwood blocks sometimes called “kindergarten blocks” or even “unit blocks”. These are an expensive toy, but well worth it. A good set will last through all your children and your grandchildren. You can sometimes find them on ebay. Buy the largest set your budget can afford. A 110 piece set at around $140 costs less than a computer or even a playstation, yet will provide a greater benefit to your child.

When a child decides what to build with blocks, he is developing his creativity and problem solving skills. As he builds, he learns about shape, size, balance, structure, and form. When he discovers that two square blocks equal the length of one unit block, he is learning about math. He can count blocks, match them, sort them, group them, stack them and knock them down. If you talk with him when he plays blocks, you can teach him words like “half”, “whole” and “gravity.”

When two or more children play with blocks, they develop social skills. They work together to create a whole, or they cooperate in the division of the blocks to build separate structures. They develop language skills as they communicate with each other.

Picking up, stacking, moving, sorting blocks develops large and small muscle control, and eye-hand coordination – all necessary skills before the child can learn to write his ABCs.

Unit blocks are so called because the basic shape or unit is a standard size, 5 1/2 inches by 2 3/4 inches by 1 3/8 inch. The half unit is 2 3/4 inches square. The double unit is 11 inches long, and the quad unit is 22 inches long. No matter where you buy your unit blocks, they should always be this size. Look for a good hard wood, fine sanding, and rounded corners.

Outdoor Play

Pedaling a Tricycle is a Healthier Choice Than Driving a Battery-Car

This area of play includes riding tricycles, digging in a sand box, splashing water, throwing balls, climbing trees, jumping on a mattress or small trampoline, turning summersaults, climbing ropes, swinging, sliding, and anything else your child can do while outside. Finding ways to do these “outdoor” activities inside, especially on a rainy day, can be a bit more tricky. For very young children, you can buy a small indoor slide. I once had a neat jumping toy that was a canvas cover over an inflated inner tube. My toddlers loved it, but it was a bit hard to store when space was limited. Water play, of course, can be done in the bathtub.

Your child needs a place to play outside every day. He or she needs to be able to use an outside voice – and be taught the difference between outside and inside voices. If you have a backyard, perfect! If you live in an apartment, you’ll need to find a place to walk to every day, twice a day. Two hours outside is not that long. It can be divided up into an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon.

In a later post, I can suggest ways to design the play yard, but for now, list what your child already has, and what you could add to the pile. A good tricycle is around $70, is made of steel and will last a lifetime. Plastic trikes are not very satisfactory. Check rummage sales, yard sales, ebay, and auctions if spending the money on a good trike is not in your budget. Trikes are better than bicycles, too. They are sturdier, less prone to tipping, and the child can trail a wagon behind him.

Table Play

Puzzles are a Great Pre-Math Activity

These are the games with pieces that can be lost, including Bingo, Candleland and Memory games. Stringing beads, lacing cards, nesting blocks, and puzzles are better played at the table, so the pieces do not get lost. Table games also include play that may need some adult supervision, like exploring small objects with a magnifying glass. For a very young child, keep these toys out of reach, and set them on the kitchen table when you have to be in the kitchen anyway. The child can play with something new, while being near you, and you can supervise. As your child gets older, you might still keep these toys in the kitchen, but perhaps move them to a low cupboard so the child can help himself.

Table play is important mostly for developing small motor control. Learning to manipulate small objects and improving dexterity are important skills so the child can later hold a pencil correctly and learn to write. Learning to put together puzzles helps develop spacial awareness. Children who do puzzles well tend to be good at math.

Art

Fingerpainting Engages the Child's Sense of Sight, Smell, Touch, and sometimes Taste

For the home, art activities are often best done at the kitchen table as well, but they are different from Table Play in one very important distinction. There are no right and wrong ways to do art! There is only one way to do a puzzle. There is only one winner in Candyland. But art is a process. It is self-expression. Never tell your child what to paint, or that he painted something wrong! (Unless he painted the kitchen blue – see Cradle & Crib for more about that!)

Art materials are one of the cheapest toys you can add to the playroom, but you will be replacing them again and again, as they get consumed. You will need drawing paper, crayons, markers, pencils, scissors, paint, thicker paper for painting on, construction paper, paste, glue, glitter, a scrapbox with assorted items for collage making, like yarn bits, cotton balls, paper scraps, tissue paper, wrapping paper, paper bags, etc., and clay, and cardboard, and posterboard, and whatever else you can think to add.

All children need crayons! If you could have only one toy, it should be crayons! I am continually astonished at the number of homes I see that don’t allow crayons! The parent usually says something about not wanting the child to color on the walls. Well, guess what? Crayons wash off. And you can teach your child not to color on the walls. We don’t forbid our children to have roller skates because we’re afraid they will wear them in the house. We don’t forbid our children to have watches because we’re afraid they’ll flush them down the toilet. We don’t even forbid our child to have a toothbrush because we’re afraid he will stuff it up his nose! We teach our children the right way to use a toy or a tool, and then we enforce the rules.

That said, it’s okay to keep crayons out of reach, and only let a younger child use them while being supervised. And crayons really do wash off just about everything.

Save your child’s art work. Display it proudly. Mail it to a grandparent, or an adopted grandparent in a nursing home. Or send it to your pediatrician, your dentist’s office, or even your pastor. They can always throw it out later, but most will display it at least for a while. Imagine how great your child will feel when he sees something he created framed and hung in his doctor’s office the next time he visits!

Music

Turn On Some Music and Watch Your Child Dance. Better Yet - Dance With Her

Music should be part of your child’s world, but so should silence. Don’t play a radio all the time, which may teach your child to “tune out” and ignore you! The music area of the playroom could include some toy instruments. Rhythm band toys are very inexpensive, often under $20, and include tambourines, shakers, a drum, bells, triangle, and maybe a swirly scarf to wave in the air while marching to music.

If your child takes music lessons, that’s great! Suzuki is a great program, and I’ll devote a separate post to that alone. But generally the small violin, which costs upwards of $400, is kept out of reach except when the child is practicing under adult supervision, and with good reason! So having small, toy musical instruments available to the child is still important.

The music area of the playroom could include a small, child-friendly cassette or CD player, some cassettes and CDs – with a variety of children’s songs, classical music, country, international music, and more. And most important, don’t forget to sing! Singing is cheap, readily available, and easy to do. Teach your child to sing. Sing to him often. I’ll upload some podcasts of popular children’s songs for you to learn. You do not have to have a great voice. I don’t. But I sang to my children. All of them learned to sing. Two of them went on to state with their voice solos. All of them sing in church choirs, and all of them have told me how important music is to them. Music can calm an angry spirit, encourage the discouraged, uplift the downtrodden, heal the hurting heart. For all that, how can you keep from singing?

Books

Just One More Story, Please!

This brings us to the last “toy” category in the playroom. Books aren’t really toys. They are like best friends. Don’t buy only expensive picture books that you keep on a shelf out of the child’s reach. These are lovely, and should certainly be part of the reading home, taken down at special times and shared wiht the child. But your child should have regular access to a wide variety of books. Board books, picture books, easy readers, read-aloud books. Even a couple of “gimicky” books – the ones with flaps that open or tabs that pull out – are okay. But limit the gimicky ones, as they cost more and don’t last long. Teach your child to respect books, but allow your child to use them. Love them. Wear them out. A child who loves the written word is more likely to pay attention when being taught to read.

So that’s it. That’s a complete guide to everything you need in your child’s play area. If you toured a really good quality day care, you would see the block corner, the book corner, the art corner, the dramatic play area, and more. Your “corners” may not be all in the same room. You may have to have the art corner and the table toys in the kitchen, the large muscle toys in the garage and back yard, and the dramatic play stuff in an empty closet or spare bedroom. But the important part is that you plan for play in these seven categories, and encourage your child to play there. The lesson plans I create will be based on these areas of play.

Most important of all – remember to have fun!

Photo Credits:
Top: mine
Blocks: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emeryjl/ / CC BY 2.0
Trike:http://www.flickr.com/photos/mobikefed/ / CC BY 2.0
Puzzle:http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbybatchelder/ / CC BY 2.0
Blue Paint:http://www.flickr.com/photos/12760128@N04/ / CC BY 2.0
Dancing:http://www.flickr.com/photos/30208099@N00/ / CC BY 2.0
Books:http://www.flickr.com/photos/annikaleigh/ / CC BY 2.0