How to stimulate children’s creativity?

Understand the importance of this skill for the future and see how you can stimulate children’s creativity in everyday life!

Creativity is considered not only a desirable skill, but also a fundamental skill to face the challenges of our century. With technological advances, cultural diversity and lifestyle changes, we need to develop from an early age the ability to create and adapt, in order to face this scenario of uncertainties and constant transformations.

To this end, we, as adults, mothers, fathers and educators, have the role of creating conditions that allow children to develop imagination, curiosity, resilience and flexibility, characteristics closely linked to creativity.

In this article we will understand how this is possible. First understand this skill thoroughly and then see tips to stimulate children’s creativity in everyday life.

After all, what is creativity?

Creativity is often seen as an innate gift or talent, belonging to a few people who would be privileged to be born with it. People say, “I wasn’t born creative.” or “I have no creativity.” Another belief is that creativity should only be a skill of great artists, and therefore only these people should develop it.

However, scientific progress has led to a new understanding of what creativity is, showing that we need to create a different point of view about it. Today we know that creativity is not an innate talent or limited to artists, but a competence that can be developed and stimulated in all ages, areas of knowledge and situations in which we have to solve a problem.

Therefore, creativity is the great potential that people have to face new situations, create unprecedented solutions and adapt to challenges. Everyone has creative potential, but their development will depend on the opportunities, experiences, motivation and incentives they receive throughout their lives.

Children’s innate creativity

A NASA study revealed that children up to the age of 5 are practically creative geniuses. However, over time, the level of creativity decreases and only 2% of adults show the same ability.

According to Swedish researcher Martina Leibovici-Mühlberger, who took part in a Spanish study called “Buenos Dias, creativity”, children are born with an incredible ability to learn, think and interact with the world in creative ways. She makes a comparison by saying that little ones are born with ‘software programs’ pre-installed in their brains, and from a very young age it is easy to develop complex skills, such as swimming or speaking other languages. However, as soon as they come into contact with the world, they are struck by the “virus” that slows this development.

The specialist mentions habits of our society such as comparing children, judging their performance, evaluation, criticism and the generated guilt. According to her, this set is responsible for the loss of 70% of innate abilities, which become inactive in children as they grow.

How can we avoid this loss of creativity and stimulate precisely this competence that is so important for everyone’s future?

How to stimulate creativity in childhood?

School has always been an environment for children to socialize and access knowledge. But if in the past the emphasis was on the transfer of content, today the school becomes responsible for fostering a set of essential skills, developing autonomy and student role, enabling them to continue learning throughout their lives. Therefore, formal education should contribute to stimulating children’s creativity.

In addition to restructuring the school and education system, it is also necessary to rethink the way of life we ​​impose on children, their relationships with the different spaces they occupy, the way they use their time and even the types of toys and content with which they are used. they have access.

Below we list some practical ways to incorporate habits into everyday life that can stimulate creativity, both for children and the rest of the family.

1 – Contact with nature

The quest “Buenos Dias, creativity” held in Spain showed that natural environments provide greater stimulation to children’s creativity potential in artificially constructed playgrounds. This is because organic spaces stimulate play in a more diverse and less focused way. This has led many countries to overhaul urban planning and replace traditional children’s spaces with what they call ‘natural play spaces’. And even in urban centers where children live in apartments, it is possible to encourage contact with nature by encouraging grow a mini vegetable garden and walking in parks.

two – play fantasy

Imagination stimulates creativity, influences cognitive development and most importantly contributes to problem solving. The world of fantasy is innate for children, but the current trend is that they are more limited to repetitive formulas of stories used in cartoons and movies. That is why it is important to diversify references. Making up stories, presenting folkloric tales, diversifying the genres of children’s books. In addition, always encourage an active relationship with fantasy, i.e.: jokes allowing the child to experience the fantasy world freely.

3 – Listen to music

Divergent thinking is when we look for as many ideas or possible solutions to a problem as possible. This kind of thinking is common in children and is an essential part of creativity. There are several ways to encourage divergent thinking, one of which is listening song. In a recent study in the Netherlands, people who listened to happy music while performing a variety of thinking tasks showed more creative results than those who did not listen to music.

4 – Move the body

The way we restrict children’s daily movement is another threat to creative potential. At school, for example, they are forced to sit at a desk during the day. A Stanford study showed that moving the body can have a direct relationship with creativity: Of the participants who were challenged to perform various tasks, 81% of people were more creative while walking, on a treadmill or on a treadmill. outdoors than when they were sitting.

5 – Have free time

In order to provide the best opportunities for their children, many families spend a great deal of the child’s time on planned activities. Besides school, the children’s agenda is full of language lessons, sports, technology, dance, etc. In the end, however, they have very little free time, and this can hinder creativity. It is important that children can experience creative leisure and free play, without time constraints and instructions from adults. In addition to giving children time and space to explore the world creatively, this can prevent illnesses such as anxiety and depression.

5 – Express yourself artistically

The field of the arts has traditionally been related to creativity, and although we know today that this skill is linked to every activity in our daily lives, it is true that encouraging artistic expression contributes to the development of this competence. The tip is to provide the child with opportunities and resources to explore freely. For example, if she is drawing a picture, do not instruct her to use the correct color. The more materials she can explore without fear of making mistakes, the greater the creative possibilities.

Extra tip: where are the colors?

Reading is one of the most important forms of contact with the fantasy world and a great provocateur of children’s creativity. the children’s book”Where are the colors?” is a tool to encourage this skill in a variety of ways.

Being a personalized book, the child can see themselves as a character in the story, which stimulates children’s imagination and lead role. In the story, the child goes on a journey full of discoveries in search of lost colors. In addition, as she reads, she will complete the story in the way and with the colors she wants, expressing her view of the world and using her creativity.

Click here to customize the book and encourage children’s creativity!