As one of the founders of the children’s activity association and having achieved the gold standard, we understand the importance of safe, positive and engaging activities to support your children’s development.
With the squeeze on creativity in our education system, it’s even more crucial that we support our children to be creative and imaginative. As a parent, we want to ensure our children have a solid foundation to help them grow develop and blossom. Starting creative activities at a young age and continuing through childhood, can support your child in all the key areas of their development. That’s what we are passionate about at Creation Station. providing your peace of mind and your child positive and engaging activities to help them explore, discover and develop at a rate and pace that sparks their own imagination and creative journey of learning.
We were approached by blogger Jennifer from arTeacherJB who loves what we do here at The Creation Station and has kindly written a blog for us about the importance of creativity and how it can help with your child’s development.
Every parent wants to ensure that their child gets off to the right start in life. Starting at a young age and continuing through their childhood, we should try to encourage children to be imaginative and creative. This will help your child with their learning development.
Every parent wants to ensure that their child gets off to the right start in life. Starting at a young age and continuing through their childhood, we should try to encourage children to be imaginative and creative. This will help your child with their learning development.
Imagination is something we all have and is essential in our lives whether it be at work or home. Children develop an imagination very early on and it is the start of the process that will define them as a person. Raising Children list the key benefits learnt through imagination as: fostering creative, expressing emotions, communications skills, coordination and motor skills, and problem-solving. How a child develops these skills is down to time dedicated to being imaginative and creative.
Children love to pretend that they are something they see on television or read about in books. Events such as the recent Olympics are a great way to fire up a child’s imagination and for a parent to encourage them to perhaps take part in something new. Here on Creative Fun we wrote a post on creating a children’s crafty medal. This is a great activity to do with your children to use in role-play such as winning the Olympics. This combines a child’s imagination with real-world goals and could inspire them in the future. Creative Fun recognizes that children need to have their creativity and imagination nurtured.
The Creative Fun helps inspire children by running fun creative classes that help them develop their imagination. We even organize events such as the kid zone for the Olympics at Hyde Park where hundreds of families came to have fun and learn. These types of events help improve child’s creativity because they get involved with other children who are also involved in the experience. Visit The Creation Station website to find local classes, book group events or learn how to get your child inspired to ignite their creativity.
As parents, we want to encourage our children in the best way we can. Bright Horizons state that parents can often intentionally or unintentionally hinder their child’s imagination. The example they give is if your child says that they drank purple milk from a purple cow the natural reaction is to correct the child because we are afraid that they don’t understand what is real. What the parent might not understand is that the child knows that a cow is not purple and is instead enjoying their imagination. The site goes on to quote Susan Engel Ph.D. who informs that children aged two and a half understand the distinction between real and pretend and that when in play mode the real becomes unimportant.
Child Care Quarterly believes that parents should tailor their child’s creativity to their age. For example, toddlers are still learning about shapes and colours so it is best to encourage them to do activities that involve drawing and colouring. Pre-schoolers are more engaged with symbols and sequences. This includes activities such as dance and collaboration with other children. All creative work for children is beneficial but it is possible to help your child’s development by engaging them in certain activities based on their age.
It is important that children are encouraged to be creative in different ways. Toosta believes that children’s clothes and activities should not be separate at a young age as they believe that the gender stereotypes are not beneficial and that girls benefit from football and boys from sewing. By broadening your child’s activities beyond what is considered the normal, parents will be broadening their child’s creative capabilities.
One of the best ways to get your children to be creative is to join in with them. Help Guide states that not only will playing with our child help their development it will also make the bond between parent and child stronger. One tip they suggest is to make your child take the lead in the game. This will let them use their imagination in different ways, as they have to explain to you the rules or the world they are imagining.
Imagination is fundamental for your child’s development. All children have imaginations but it is up to the parent to make sure that it is encouraged. A child needs to be guided in life and sometimes this means accepting that they drank purple milk from a purple cow.
Exclusively written for The Creation Station
by arTeacherJB
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