Creative Kids

Do you want to raise a creative child? One who can come up with amazing ideas, amuse himself, solve problems and enjoy the magical side of childhood? The problem is, today it seems like every toy and every children’s program focuses on education, not creativity.
The greatest thing about being creative with music is how much fun it is. "It’s immediate, the response kids have," says Mike Whitla, director of Rainbow Songs, a preschool music program. Encourage your child to sing (and make up their own words or use funny voices), dance and try their hand at various instruments. And remember that the more children learn about music — how it works, how to play an instrument — the more they’ll be able to creatively experiment with it.
Every child loves books, and every parent loves a child who reads: they’ll do well in school. But books and stores are also a great source of creative fun. When children learn they have the ability to take stories off the page, they feel empowered to let their own amazing ideas take over. Children of almost any age have the ability to compose their own tales, they just need some encouragement from you.
Combine a very basic recipe, messy ingredients such as dough and sugar and a hands-off attitude and you have a recipe for fun and creativity. "Once you deal with the safety issues, you’ve got to give them room," suggests food writer Evelyn Raab, "Allow them the freedom to create things the way they want." While it’s best to ensure there will be some success, once you know the end result will be at least edible, let them go to it unfettered.
Isn’t doing crafts just creative by nature? Not always. Choose hand-on projects that include a component that your child contributes. Sometimes that’s as basic as choosing the colors they wish (No, the sky does not have to be blue!), or doing a project where you don’t have to follow the instructions word-for-word to get a fun result.