Creativity is intelligence having fun.
Albert Einstein
Developing your child’s creativity during the current school closures (and always) is the most important thing to focus on right now. Learning is all about motivation and creativity leads to motivation. Right now, the world is in a situation that is hard to believe for most of us. In addition, the spread of covid-19 has forced us into social isolation and some people into panic buying. Many schools are closing to help stop the spread of this virus. If you or someone you know is in this situation and has children at home that they will need to help to continue learning, then this blog post is for you.
Creativity during the school closure is a must – for you and for your children or students. I will explain why you need to focus on active family time and learning and rely less on paper and pencil or digital tasks. While there are many things you can do at home, I will be focussing on 4 of the most important ways to help children develop their creativity as it will not only motivate them to learn, but it will increase their learning exponentially.
Learning looks different in different countries, different cities, different neighbourhoods and different classrooms. There are abundant sources of resources available online that are wonderful learning tools. Not every family will be able to access those tools and resources and many other people choose not to use so much paper. Digital learning can be useful (for those able to access it) but the interest to do “work” can be short-lived. For these reasons, I felt it was important to share 4 ways you can grow your child’s creativity without having to use paper or digital tools.
Why is creativity important?
Creativity has historically been linked to the right-brain while analytical activities are more left-brain. Generally, the focus and value has been on left-brained thinking and learning. According to Daniel Pink (A Whole New Mind, 2005), both sides of our brains actually work together. Simply put, the left side specializes in text, the right in context. The left side handles what is said in a conversation, the right side determines how it is said.
Our eyes track print from left to right in most Western languages. It is our right hemisphere that makes our head and eyes start left and go right but it is exercising the left side of our brain more. Maybe that is why it is difficult for some people to recognize facial or mood cues from others.
The world is changing – as a result, many things are being automated. One thing we cannot automate is creativity. Not only will creativity enhance the right side of our brain, it will reinforce the complementary nature of both sides of the brain so that they work synergistically to promote deeper learning.
I shared the importance of creativity and how that relates to the brain to give validity to the time that we can spend on things that are not necessarily “tradition learning” lessons. The good news? It is very easy to implement activities at home that will develop your child’s creativity and help them to become an avid learner. We can fill anyone up with content but if they don’t like learning – not much will be remembered. This is why the following suggestions may help you to bridge that gap between home and school and help you to feel like you are making a difference in your child’s life right now and always.
4 ways to spark creativity
In order to develop your child’s creativity, you must first motivate them to learn. While that may seem tricky depending on your child, it comes down to a mindset on learning. Your child’s teacher has been focussing on learning mindset and it’s important to keep this going. Don’t worry so much about content and worksheets. The real learning takes place when children are exposed to learning that is meaningful, motivating, interesting and something they would choose to do.
According to educator and author Gravity Goldberg, if a child perceives learning as work, they will be less motivated to learn. If the child perceives it as play, they are more willing to engage. So what can you do to encourage active learning that is perceived by your child as play? Incorporate some play based learning! This is the best way to encourage learning through developing their creativity.
These 4 ideas will help your child to:
- be motivated to learn more and more deeply
- remain physically active
- learn new things across the subject areas
- help your child self reflect on their learning
- sharpen their senses and reignite their sense of wonder
All you need for the next couple of weeks is a notebook for your child to keep observations, notes, wonder etc.
1. Gather wonder inside or outdoors
If you are able to take your child to a park, a beach, a forest or any other area outside, this is ideal. (Being outside in areas away from others right now is important.) If all you have right now is your own back yard or a walk down the street, then you can make the best of this situation. The point is to awaken the senses and take in as much wonder as possible – just like they did when they were little. Focus on the 5 senses. (see, hear, smell, touch, taste{(if appropriate}) Have your child use the notebook to document what they notice. They can draw or write – drawing can help people remember more. Drawing is also the first stage of writing for the younger learners.
Count things and see shapes everywhere. Notice the math in your everyday life both inside and outside the home. Pay attention to people. If you are home, concentrate on neighbors, family, etc. Who are these people? What do they do for a living? Why makes them unique? If you are outside, notice people that are moving. Are they walking, driving, taking a bus? Are they working? What does the business do? Do you see animals? Through this adventure, your child will be learning more about observation (science), writing (literacy), drawing (fine arts) , math (numeracy), and social studies (communities and people). PLAY! Children learn so much from play including critical thinking and problem solving.
2. Talk and Listen to Grow Learning
In order for children to develop as learners, they need to talk to develop their speech and to problem solve. Spoken language is the first thing to develop and it is a stepping stone to written language. That is to say, speaking in full sentences helps children to write in full sentences. Engage in conversation with your child. Model good listening skills. Point out the listening that you are doing (with your eyes, your ears and your heart) and have them try it too. I wrote about more communication tips here. Read aloud together where you take turns reading and listening. Have your child talk about things that interest them. Ask them about the things that they have been looking at, listening to, noticing etc. This may generate new interests that are different than ones they already have.
3. Create to Learn
Create can mean many things. Being creative is subjective. What might interest one person may not appeal to someone else. The point is that individuals should feel like they can create something and feel good about it. It’s important that your child fails too. It is in the failure that learning happens. Children also learn how to handle disappointment. Give your child opportunities to develop their creativity and create based on their interests and the items you may have at home for them to use. Some children may choose to build, to cook, to draw or paint, to write, to craft, to dance, to sing and the list goes on…
4. Self Reflect on the Creative Process
An often underestimated skill is to be able to self reflect. It is through self reflection that one learns to be introspective (inward looking) and really see the self in everything they do. As many children are egocentric, it is good to start this practice early. You can start this process by simply asking your child how their day was. Asking “why do you think that?” is a great open-ended way to have your child think more deeply about something. Self-reflection may begin with your questions but the more your child practices it, the more it will become natural.
In school, many teachers use self-assessment in the classroom as a way to move learning forward. Ownership of learning is important. Therefore, in this self reflection process, children learn that their thoughts and feelings matter. When children are mindful of their surroundings, their learning, and their life, they become more in control of their choices and the outcomes. When you know that you can be your own change and that you are in charge of your own learning, you are happier. Learning, is the gateway to everything else. It is important that children and adults feel hopeful, now and every day.
Accept the Present Situation
The coronavirus has quickly changed lives all over the world. This situation will pass as all other pandemics before it have passed. While acknowledging that some situations are worse than others, we all have to work together to help this pass more quickly. That starts with social distancing and isolation. Stay in touch with your friends and family through phone calls and facetime. Above all, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Please reach out here if you need any ideas or further resource suggestions to help you help your children at home.
If you are looking for actual physical resources that are open ended and will stand the test of time, I encourage you to look at Genius Hour, Passion Projects and Interactive Mindful Notebook which all align with everything I talked about here.
Stay healthy and safe everyone!
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