The Creative Process

Creativity is based on the human brain’s ability to make leaps of imagination, and to produce new results from unexpected combinations of materials or information. Creative thinking is as important as the analytical thinking which our society has traditionally stressed. But, like a talent for tennis, creativity needs to be nurtured. Without exercise, it can wither away. One way to keep the creative impulse alive is to support it in your home.

1. Provide open-ended activities. Let your child play with materials such as blocks, paints, markers, and playdough.

2. Provide a rich assortment of materials and experiences. A box or bag full of interesting scraps is wonderful for building and for collage projects. It might include wrappings from food products (cellophane, netting, styrofoam trays), ribbon, yarn, popsicle sticks, cotton balls, etc. These would be in addition to standard materials such as scissors, markers, tape, glue, clay, etc.

3. Follow your child’s lead. Be willing to change gears if your child decides to paste bits of colored paper onto a sheet of paper instead of making the paper chain you had planned on. Try to share her interest in the process rather than focusing on a product.

4. Help your child expand his ideas. If your child is interested in some seed pods he picked up on a walk, suggest some possible things to do with them: plant them, make a collage, do rubbings. Then help him gather materials to do a project he chooses.

5. Make objective observations about your child’s work. Statements like, “You used a lot of bright colors,” help a child define and think about his work. Statements such as, “I like your picture” present the adult as the judge rather than encouraging the child to evaluate his own work.

6. Participate in creative activities with your child. Not only is it fun for all, but the parent’s participation communicates that the creative process is valuable and important.

7. Match your experimentation to the child’s level of development. If you draw at the level your child is drawing, for example, you will avoid intimidating your child. You will also better understand her level of development and appreciate her strategies and ideas.

8. Find ways to allow the messiness that goes along with creative exploration. Children can water color in the basement, pound on playdough on a vinyl tablecloth on the kitchen floor, fingerpaint in the bathtub, and create scrap wood sculpture in the garage.