Here are useful / practical tips & suggestions to ignite creativity and self-expression in your Kids…
Most children over 6 months old become a lot more interested in their surroundings, by this time most babies are excited to discover the world around them. That’s when, as parents, you should try to take baby steps to sharpen two of the most important aspects of their overall development — creativity and imagination.
Though early education is important, its also important that parents don’t put any sort of undue pressure on their little ones. Neither there’s any need to worry about their toddler’s art abilities.
Most parents may not consider themselves artistic, and so are keen that their children do well in that area as well (besides studies of course).
But then, most parents also see it as some sort of exam and are worried about ‘how their toddler is doing’ as far as their art projects in preschool or kindergarten is concerned.
Experiencing is Important
However, it’s more important for the kids to experience, rather than know how to draw something, or whether or not little Jason color is in the lines, or if he/she is playing the right musical notes.
Your little ones need to experience self-expression and the ‘doing of art’ rather than have a page from a coloring book to hang on the refrigerator or play some tune on a musical instrument, so that others can see it.
When a two-year old puts his chubby little hand in a tub of finger paint and happily smears all of the colors together on the paper, or when he makes yet another ‘snowman’ out of play-doh, he’s creating, and its painting for him/her, though you may not see it as yet.
By allowing them to experience art in their own way, we let them see the world around them & how they feel and think, without any sort of biases (that parents may have).
Let Them Feel Special
Art makes kids feel good about themselves.
Imagine this scenario where your toddler finishes a collage or a drawing and holds up his masterpiece with that beaming smile. How does that feel to both of you? Of course great!
There’s no doubt that your little one is taking pride in his/her accomplishments by creating simple art projects.
So as parents, you must remember to ask them questions about their projects that will make them think about what they’ve made, rather than asking them a direct ‘What is that?’ question.
Here’s a better way of asking a question, ‘Tim, why don’t you tell Mommy about your painting.’ And then Tim will start to talk about his work or anything else he feels important at the time. Obviously he thinks that you’re interested in his work and aren’t confused about what you see!
Also, make sure to hang his art work up in a prominent place in your home, so that the entire family can enjoy & appreciate it.
Activities Helps them Learn
Besides making your child important, art does help them with their hand-eye coordination and physical skills as well.
Through art & music, children learn to identify colors, cause-and-effect, shapes, problem solving, sharing and cooperation among many other skills.
More Resources to Spark Creativity
Here are some more useful methods that you may use.
- Sound, Colors & Shapes
Complete your little one’s world with sound, colors and forms. If you have a spare room for your child, paint the walls with lively colors, have kid pleasant characters and sketches.
- Educational Toys
Provide more toys to stimulate creative imagination. Blocks are ideal toys for 2-3 years old — improves fine motor skills as well as encourages the child to use their imagination to build. Musical toys have more long-term benefits.
- Read Books
Use books that have vivid and vibrant visual styles and photographs. Though the baby may not understand the whole story yet, its a stepping-stone towards stimulating their imagination.
- Color & Paint
Let your little one dabble with colors. Paint their palms and feet with water-based, non-toxic and hypo-allergenic poster colors and let them put their hands and foot marks on a piece of paper or canvass. Its fun for the kids and good activity to spark their creativity.
- Promote Innovative Role Play
Let your child run around the horse pretending to be Spiderman or Superman. Ask them how a lion roars, or an elephant walks. Let them perform a popular dance step (such as Gangnam style). You too join in the fun with your little one.
More Ways to teach Toddlers in a creative manner
Toddlers learn best using a creative, unique approach. Activities that encourage brain development are incredibly well-received, but require a lot of work on the parent’s behalf. There is going to be a long journey over the next eighteen years, but the starting phase is likely the most important.
It’s during this phase that the fundamental learning process begins and small lessons taught here will be amplified throughout the remaining years.
Here are some useful tips that you can implement in order to get your child involved.
- Encourage him/her to draw/paint. Pick up a small package of crayons or markers and hand them off to your toddler. Allow them to be as creative as possible, releasing their ideas upon the paper in swirls and dots of colors. This is a great time to begin differentiating the various colors while instilling basic visual creativity. A few hours spent drawing on a piece of paper may result in the world’s next Picasso!
- Play-dough is a child’s favorite and still serves as one of the best learning tools with a creative focus. This amorphous blob can be molded, shaped, and twisted into any design that their tiny hands can articulate. There are different colors, styles, and textures that give the toddler instant visual feedback throughout the learning process. Creative outlets such as this are perfect for establishing intuitive artistic capabilities.
- Older siblings are sometimes more capable than the parents themselves. Let the children get together with a small basket of paints, markers, and paper. The mind of a child and the mind of a toddler often work well together, teaching one another without fully understanding any of the lessons they are learning. The older, more mature of the two will take on the role of responsibility while the younger toddler watches and learns from the sibling.
- A few minutes spent watching a DVD, video or TV with your toddler may have a big impact on their life. It will begin the fundamentals of learning language while also capturing their attention and providing a medium that the both of you can enjoy. Educational media is the best option in all scenarios because it provides the same entertainment with an underlying focus on the problem-sets that their particular age-range will be experiencing.
- A large bucket of magnetic letters will provide the building blocks for grammar and intuitive language comprehension during the early development stages. Giving the child access to a large surface such as a refrigerator and these magnets will open their eyes to new words, colors, and ideas. Watch as they form vowel sounds, begin to arrange the letters in their correct order, and eventually form entire words that have a meaning. The visual aspect of the magnets and the ability to be arranged according to any immediate thoughts are the fundamental improvements over pencil and paper.
To Conclude
Every child has untapped creativity that can be honed using the various methods mentioned here. Art and musical experiences should be a major part of any toddler’s daily activities, once they have grown enough to grasp objects, press buttons, tear paper and hold crayons and brushes. Kids love such activities and are always thrilled with art projects that let them be creative and have fun, and more importantly spend quality time with the important adults in their lives.
Spend valuable time with your kid and use these tips to build a creative classroom for your student at home!
Funtoyworld is a family-managed website with me (Ben), and my wife doing most of the work. We are proud parents of two wonderful kids and love reviewing toys. We have a firm but friendly “democratic parenting” style and offer several practical suggestions backed by extensive research. Our own experience with raising two children prompted us to share our knowledge. Read more.
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