How to train a child to be creative?
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Hi jedamum,
I don't buy too many toys for him, so most of the time, he will be playing the same things over again. He has a lot of freeplay time. When he has nothing to play, he will ask to play computer game, and the game he likes ( he doesn't like educational game, not even playhouse disney, tired of them,hahha) are those cooking game, fighting game. We found him playing gun shooting game!
After that, we stop him from playing these game (or should I say, reduce the time of playing game).
Just this morning, plenty of freeplay time right? he just sat there doing nothing.hmm.
I'm worried that in the long term, it wouldn't maximise the potential of learning in him. -
hi smurf
how abt providing lots of free play tools like paintbrushes, toothbrush, sponges, paper for him? ask him to talk abt his painting rather than just ask wat is it? kids love it when their parents sit together with them to do. offer lots of encouragement, some ideas etc may create that spark in your child to try create something for himself! pen/pencil and a notebook for him to scribble is great too. u can play some music and ask him to draw whatever that comes to his mind.
end of day, i find lots of encouragement and love and understanding of your child is critical! :love: it helps greatly if your child sees that creativity in u in daily life too
btw, wat do u mean by sit there do nothing? is he daydreaming? that may actually be good, i think, to be able to sit there and daydream about endless possibilities! we all lead such hectic lives its good to sit back once in a while and take stock! -
smurf:
This sounded just like my friend. She mentioned that her childhood was quite boring as most of the time, she got nothing to do and sat at the doorway of her house, looking and doing nothing. :? I was quite puzzled as I was playing all sorts of pretend play all by myself during my childhood days. I think this is just personality difference.
Just this morning, plenty of freeplay time right? he just sat there doing nothing.hmm.
foreverj suggestion is good, ie. to provide all kinds of drawing materials for the child to experiment. You might want to start off and suggest some ideas on what to draw/do to the child and let him continue to explore on his own, instead of dictating what should be done in a step by step manner. For a start, when playing Lego or blocks or anything for that matter, can first ask questions and suggest multiple possible ways of doing things rather than one way. Get him to explore and experiment, guide him at first but slowly let go and lead him to give you possible solutions/combinations/ways of playing. Play dough and doing origami are also good in cultivating creativity.
If your child likes music, maybe can get a cheap keyboard to let him experiment with sounds. Watching Hi-Five may help too, as I find the activities they do are rather creative and he might get some ideas from there. Hope this helps. -
hmm, that's what I did when I was young. I played pretend game, such as doctor and patient in clinic, sales assistant in a shop selling clothes and I would bring out those clothes including my mum's and just play.hahah.
sometimes he is not even intersted in what I try to teach him. like sometimes, I would draw on doodle pad, he would do oher things or just refuse to join in.hmm.
he has a keyboard, but he used it as a step to play. :stupid:
now the keyboard is spoilt.
I would try origami though, something he likes for now. hahah. -
may be can get him some stuff like doctor’s set and masak masak and play doctor patient or cooking games with him… or pretend to feed the soft toys and stuff…
Origami is good… can play with end products some more… -
smurf:
That's great! Why don't you play pretend games with him? Suggest some scenarios and let him take the lead to choose what he wants to be. Again, Hi-5 has loads of these pretend stuff and after watching, he might just be interested to be a robot/an astronaut/a submarine etc., which can open up to a whole lot of imaginative and creative play.hmm, that's what I did when I was young. I played pretend game, such as doctor and patient in clinic, sales assistant in a shop selling clothes and I would bring out those clothes including my mum's and just play.hahah.
[quote]sometimes he is not even intersted in what I try to teach him. like sometimes, I would draw on doodle pad, he would do oher things or just refuse to join in.hmm. [/quote]Perhaps you might not want to think of the activity as \"teaching\" him as he might sense pressure and resist it. Take it as a fun activity for bonding and again, let him take the lead. However, try to be sensitive to his needs, do not force if he's really not interested... -
hi agree on the hi-5 shows. i followed kellie by making a shopping list with my daughter and brought her to supermarket to buy the items on the list. she loved it! :love: and i often hear her singing songs she learns from hi-5 and very often, i will sing along too cos the songs r really quite catchy.
making readily available tools and toys is extremely important. they can be very cheap too. playdoh is great - safety scissors, rolling pin, animal cookie-cutters inclusive kept my daughter busy when she was stuck home with me due to sickness. and how abt some water play by just taking a tub and a few containers and filling it with water? u can even have sand play by getting sand from the nurseries
u see, it's an attitude. if a child loves to play and have fun, he will love to occupy his time with the things above. but beware, parents must prepare to invest the time and the willingness to clean up the mess! -
Frankly I was a bit taken aback by your header.
Can creativity be trained? I do believe that children by nature are curious learners. And I still stand by the belief that leave the child alone, the child will find ways and means to occupy his time and hence creativity will naturally arise.
Dare I say too many parents have become over-eager in trying to incorporate teaching opportunities in play? We hover over our kids, buy a multitude of educational toys, and then sit with them, directing their play, even if it's meant to be free play.
I remember my own childhood of free play, I had no enrichment classes except for swimming lessons but I was out of the house literally all day long inventing games with my neighbours. I operated my own library, charging my pals for \"overdue\" books and playing waiter/customer with my mother's precious cutlery and ceramic plates.
The best thing of all? Our parents left us alone. They didn't have moolah to buy a multitude of toys and they were only too glad to get us out of their hair to bother about what we are playing with. Till today, I remember a lot of my childhood and sadly, not much of my schooling years!
My own childhood gave me much perspective in my parenting. My kids don't watch TV so they don't expect entertainment at the flick of the switch. Their toys and books are within their reach. If we are home, I pull a book or paper to read, my kids are expected to find something to do.
I try my darnest not to interfere, though sometimes it's hard when they are about to create a huge mess. I only step in if they need help to get paints/brushes if they feel like painting, getting an out of reach toy or wanting me to read a story aloud. They also run in and out of the house playing with their neighbours.
I suppose my kids are creative in a way they know how to make use of their own free time. They don't bother me much (hurrah!) and they certainly use much of their imagination when playing with the little stuff they have. By the way, by 3 year old always stacks up the same sized lego blocks in the same way everytime. She sometimes says it's a castle, and sometimes it's a tall giraffe. That's creativity to me. -
sunflower:
Perhaps you might not want to think of the activity as \"teaching\" him as he might sense pressure and resist it. Take it as a fun activity for bonding and again, let him take the lead. However, try to be sensitive to his needs, do not force if he's really not interested...[/quote]hmm, he doesn't enjoy pretend game, and Hi-5, not quite interested also. yah, you are right, he will be resistance if I try to ask him to do this or do that. he likes to 'lead' me instead.hahha.[quote]That's great! Why don't you play pretend games with him? Suggest some scenarios and let him take the lead to choose what he wants to be. Again, Hi-5 has loads of these pretend stuff and after watching, he might just be interested to be a robot/an astronaut/a submarine etc., which can open up to a whole lot of imaginative and creative play.
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icemountain:
You are right to say that leave the child, and he/she will find something to do. but for my boy, he will sit there doing nothing!Frankly I was a bit taken aback by your header.
Can creativity be trained? I do believe that children by nature are curious learners. And I still stand by the belief that leave the child alone, the child will find ways and means to occupy his time and hence creativity will naturally arise.
Dare I say too many parents have become over-eager in trying to incorporate teaching opportunities in play? We hover over our kids, buy a multitude of educational toys, and then sit with them, directing their play, even if it's meant to be free play.
I remember my own childhood of free play, I had no enrichment classes except for swimming lessons but I was out of the house literally all day long inventing games with my neighbours. I operated my own library, charging my pals for \"overdue\" books and playing waiter/customer with my mother's precious cutlery and ceramic plates.
The best thing of all? Our parents left us alone. They didn't have moolah to buy a multitude of toys and they were only too glad to get us out of their hair to bother about what we are playing with. Till today, I remember a lot of my childhood and sadly, not much of my schooling years!
My own childhood gave me much perspective in my parenting. My kids don't watch TV so they don't expect entertainment at the flick of the switch. Their toys and books are within their reach. If we are home, I pull a book or paper to read, my kids are expected to find something to do.
I try my darnest not to interfere, though sometimes it's hard when they are about to create a huge mess. I only step in if they need help to get paints/brushes if they feel like painting, getting an out of reach toy or wanting me to read a story aloud. They also run in and out of the house playing with their neighbours.
I suppose my kids are creative in a way they know how to make use of their own free time. They don't bother me much (hurrah!) and they certainly use much of their imagination when playing with the little stuff they have. By the way, by 3 year old always stacks up the same sized lego blocks in the same way everytime. She sometimes says it's a castle, and sometimes it's a tall giraffe. That's creativity to me.
I dun have too many educational toy (they are too expensive) for him, so most time, he will have to settle for old toys.
However, I must say this, last time, cildren are left to play on their own (just like we did). we can go to 'mountain' or attap houses or catch spiders. but nowadays, there is none such places, hence, most children are kept at home doing nothing. because of this, and because of their nature curiousity, we parents tend to think that they are 'naughty' when actually, they just want to explore. and becauase they have no place to go, they tend to disturb parents or the caregivers cos they are bored.