8 Ways to Help Your Kid Be More Creative

Creativity is super important for kids. It helps them think in new ways, solve problems, and express themselves!  Here are eight easy ways you can help your child be more creative:

1. Encourage Free Play

Let your child play without giving them strict rules. This kind of play lets them use their imagination best. They can pretend to be superheroes, make forts out of blankets, create their own puzzles and art. It doesn’t matter as long as they are playing freely. Of course, you don’t want your kid to paint all of your walls with crayons, but sometimes limiting their choices also limits their creativity. For example, you can set up a store with items from around the house and let your child have their very own shop. They can become a shopkeeper and sell you the items. Or, make a “dress-up box” with old clothes and accessories and see what they will come up with!

2. Art Supplies

Keep lots of art supplies at home. Crayons, markers, paints, clay – anything can get your child excited about making their own art. You don’t need fancy stuff; simple things like old magazines, cardboard boxes, or even leaves and stones can spark creativity. By having these supplies around, your child can express their ideas and try different materials whenever they want. You could have a “craft day” where you both make collages from magazine cutouts or use clay to sculpt animals. Another fun idea is to set up an “art station” with paper and coloring tools so they can create something whenever they feel like it.

3. Read Together

Reading books can really get your child’s imagination going. Pick stories with lots of colorful pictures and fun plots. Then, ask your child to make up their own endings or draw their favorite scenes. This boosts their creativity and helps them understand and tell stories better. It makes them picture the characters and settings in their mind. When you finish a book, you can have a “storytelling session” and let your child retell you the story in their own words. This helps them think creatively and also improves their storytelling skills!

4. Limit Screen Time

Too much screen time can affect your child’s creativity! Try setting some limits on TV, mobile phone, and computer use. Luckily, these limits can be set on most of the devices today. Kids are super imaginative and creative on their own and spending all the time on a screen will waste all that precious time your kid would naturally use to get creative. Suggest they play outside, dive into a good book, or work on some art projects. By cutting limiting screen time, you’re giving them some more time to explore their imagination. How about introducing “screen-free afternoons” where you can do fun stuff together? Baking cookies, building puzzles, or going on a scavenger hunt – sounds more fun and beneficial for your kid than staring at a screen, right? Not only do they spend less time in front of a screen, but you both also get more time to bond together!

5. Explore Nature

Take your child on nature walks and let them gather leaves, rocks, and flowers. You can use these items for fun art projects or experiments at home. Nature is packed with inspiration and new materials and you and your kid just need to find it! It even sounds fun thinking about it – making leaf rubbings or building tiny fairy houses.  Exploring outside helps kids come up with endless creative ideas. You can plan special nature exploration days and visit different parks or trails, and encourage your child to keep a “nature journal” to draw or write about their discoveries. Simply picking up different flowers and drying them means your child can have their own herbarium! You can also do easy nature crafts like making bird feeders from pine cones or creating flower crowns

6. Ask Open-Ended Questions

Instead of asking yes or no questions, try asking open-ended ones. This is a super simple trick to get your kid creative in no time but often gets overlooked. How to use this secret tip? For example, try asking “What do you think would happen if…?” instead of “Do you think this would happen?”. This helps your kid activate their creative thinking instead of being limited to yes or no scenarios. For example, imagine you’re building a block tower together, you could ask, “What can we add to make it taller?” These kinds of questions get them thinking, and let them explore different ideas. You can also have daily or weekly question sessions where you ask fun questions. Here are some examples to help you brainstorm:

• If you could create a new animal, what would it look like?
• What would you do if you could be invisible for a day?
• If you could pick any superpower, which one would you pick?

7. Create a Creative Space

Set up a special area for your child! Give it a nice and cozy name like Creative Corner and you are good to go! It doesn’t need to be a big space and even a corner of a room works well. You can fill it with items that spark creativity, like books and art supplies. Having their own dedicated spot to draw and be creative makes a big difference. It encourages them to spend more time being creative and gives them a boost. Similar to having a designated space to study, spaces for activities are proven to work! You can even add a “creative closet” where they can keep and easily reach their supplies. Decorate this space with their artwork and projects to make it a personal and inspiring place for them. This will also give your kid a precious sense of ownership.

8. Have Them Come Up With Fun Characters

Encourage your child to create their own characters. This lets them use their imagination and storytelling skills. They can invent unique personalities and backstories, and draw what their characters look like. For example, ask your child to draw a new character and see how much fun they’ll have using only paper and pen. They might come up with a character who has wings or superpowers, or someone who can talk to animals. After drawing, your kid can come up with a short story about their character! You can also help them make a character profile sheet with sections for the character’s name, age, favorite things, and history. Another fun activity is to play a simple role-playing game where your child acts as their character. They can share character profiles on original character websites and character storage sites.

Conclusion

By using these tips every day, you can really help your child become more creative. Encourage them to explore new ideas, imagine fun stories, and create all sorts of things. Your kid’s creative potential is natural and endless so your job is just to make sure you are not an obstacle to it!
Remember, it’s not just about making something, it’s about thinking outside the box and coming up with cool new ideas.

One final tip I would like to give you is to applaud to your kid’s efforts. Big or small – each new thing is a step forward that should count! And you’ll see their confidence grow at the same pace their creativity does!