December 07, 2010 | Posted in Editor's Notes, Parenting/Child Development | Post a comment | Share Article |
There are only so many trips you can make and so many DVDs/books/games/toys you can buy. What else can you get your younger children to participate in (especially during the long school break), to prevent boredom and yet keep them productively engaged, without spending a bomb?
Try giving their creativity an(other) outlet. For instance, get them actively involved in art-and-craft-related projects…at this point you might be thinking: what else is there left to do besides finger painting or painting raw penne (as in pasta) and stringing them together as beads to make a necklace?
Children are simply naturally creative, though many educators will tell you, their creativity is “killed” by the time they are 6 or 7 years old, i.e. around the age when they get enlisted in our regimented formal education system.
All the more why you should keep your children’s creativity alive by continually fanning the flame. You might find some do-able ideas in links to the site below:
It’s just one recommended website, but the number of articles and activities in there should be able to keep your kids occupied for at least a few days.
In my own experience, I find that my children aged 9 and 12 can’t stop drawing every day. They reuse pieces of paper that we adults no longer have need of, and fill up whatever blank spaces they can find with sketches of their personal observations and wishful thinking.
Secretly, I prefer them to be more diligent in their studies and household responsibilities than they are in their drawing, but at the same time, I’m thankful for the unconscious psychological revelations their illustrations provide me with.
I get a glimpse of their private world through their creative work. So what’s not to like about their creativity?
