CULTIVATING
CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT
AT HOME
Suggestions On How To ENCOURAGE CREATIVITY
- Preparing an Activity Area and a Regular Creativity Time - Choose a space in your home where brainstorming and experiments can be done. It should be a safe space that each member of the family can freely discover, try out and spend time in without judgement or limitation while also putting an emphasis on empathy and common understanding of other members of the family. Size may vary depending on your family's living space and this area can move anywhere in your home (or outside your living space) from time to time. As long as it's a space that invites imagination and inspiration. There should also be a time where you can do things together (family trips, movie time, family painting time), and time to do things by themselves as well, like unstructured playtime, reading a book by themselves, making their own projects, drawing by themselves, practice singing a song, etc. This will encourage each family member to look forward to your agreed schedules and motivate their brains to automatically exercise creative thinking. If done regularly, it will eventually become a habit that will greatly benefit each family member.
- Utilizing Different Kinds of Art Materials - One great tool in making your CREATIVITY AREA interesting and inviting, is to make available different types of materials. In Visual Arts, try to stock up on the usual WET and DRY art materials, plus other few extras - like toilet paper rolls, milk cartons, plastic bottles, bottle caps in different colors, old compact discs, old magazines, gift ribbons, shoe boxes, popsicle sticks, plastic forks and spoons are very useful craft materials that give one’s brains endless ideas and possible projects. You can also add natural items like sticks, interesting stones, leaves or flowers from outside in your park or garden.
- Display Your Family's Artistic Projects - Whether it be a certificate, diploma, a finished art project or trophy, it’s important to have an area which every member of your family (even the littlest ones) can look at and admire, talk about and remember. It would also be best to combine it with photos of memorable family events and activities to help you all look at that area with pride and fondness. And most of all, help inspire each other member of the family to strive for another excellent endeavor that everyone in the family will also be proud of.