Giving the Gift of Creativity

The Gift of Creativity

‘Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world.” Albert Einstein

Parents- give your child gifts that will help creativity flourish. Giving your child freedom to create establishes self-esteem, which leads to more creativity.  We are all born with natural creativity and it is only as we get older that our children start to doubt themselves and their abilities.  It is our job as parents to encourage, nurture and provide a creative environment without judgment or criticism for our children to develop and explore their creativity.

Ideas to encourage creativity

·         Set up a specific place where they can explore, create and make a mess.

·         Encourage reading for pleasure and participate in the arts.

·         If you choose to watch TV or movies, pick programs that are engaging and stimulating and start               discussions with your children on the creative elements that go into making the programs.

·         Encourage rehearsing a play, learning to draw and reading a book by a favorite author

·         Stop caring what your kids achieve. The process is more important than the product.

·         Ask – did you have fun? What did you like about that activity?

 

Gift suggestions to encourage creativity

·         Art supplies

·         A camera

·         Costume components

·         Building materials

 

Creating a gift basket for the creative child

·         Include something for them to create (i.e. if they love to build things, a specific Lego set for them           to work on)

·         Include something about the thing they love to create (i.e. if it is dancing, maybe a book on ballet             or a dance movie)

·         Include something that helps facilitate the creation (i.e. if they love to write stories, how about                 soothing background music, or if they are into choreographing dances, some new headphones so           they can play their song on repeat all day long without disturbing their parents!)

·         Finally, make the wrapping of the gift basket follow the same theme (i.e. wrap up the budding                 musicians gift in an instrument case!)

For more ideas check out the below link to The Artful Parent blog

Kids' Art Kits :: 6 DIY Gifts To Inspire Creativity

Take a look at our January Art Workshop on Oil Painting. A great experiential gift idea this holiday season!