Tip No. 7 Creative Art
‘ Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist after
growing up. ” Pablo Picasso
Every child is an artist. All that children need is some freedom to explore
their creativity through art. Set aside a wall or section of a wall in your
home (use a surface material that is easy to clean with a duster or a piece
of wet cloth) for your children to practice their art.
You should emphasize the enjoyment and the process of creating art more
than the results. The final quality of a young child's work is not as
important as the process used in creating them.
Question 7: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Response 7: A large plain surface gives a lot of room for your children to
explore their artistic flair. Your children’s cognitive development depends
on how their perception and hand-eye coordination vary as well as their
views of the world.
For instance, a cat may look like anything but a cat. Take a positive view
into your child's explanation for his/her drawings. Encourage their
expression of ideas by praising their artwork to your visiting friends or
relatives.
Mind exercise 7
Explore geometric shapes with your children. For example, what does a
small circle on top of a big circle represent? Look for as many answers as
possible.
Answer 7: Snowman, balancing a ball on the head, an orange on top of a
watermelon, a ping-pong ball on top of a tennis ball, etc.
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Tip No. 8 Fantasy Play
“The dynamic principle of fantasy is play, which belongs also to the child.
As such, it appears to be inconsistent with the principle of serious work.
But, without this playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come
to birth. The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable. ” Carl Gustav Jung
Parents should encourage their children to indulge in fantasy play even
though it may create some messiness in their homes.
Empty boxes, in particular, hold endless fascination for the child. They
could become cars, spaceships, planes or anything that their imagination
wants them to be.
Cushions and blankets too can become imaginative playthings such as
castles, tents and perhaps caves.
Question 8: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Response 8: Children, who were, in their learning, allowed to test and
make discoveries by their own abilities and in a variety of ways, acquired
a greater ability to solve problems than children who have only been
observing or been instructed when solving problems.
A study presented at the American Psychological Society's conference
shows that children are more creative when parents are not constantly
encouraging them.
Dr. Dale Grubb, a co-author of the study, said: "The adage that parents
want to encourage kids to color between the lines appears to be true.
Parents need to allow their kids to feel free to experiment if they want
their children to grow up into creative and original adults. If parents get
involved too much the child feels they are being evaluated and judged.”
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Mind exercise 8
Tear a piece of A4 paper in
Answer 8:
two and give one piece to
your child. Ask them to use
a pair of scissors to cut a hole
so big that they can walk right
through it!
Tip No. 9 – Fun with empty boxes
Playfulness supports higher order learning. Engagement, interaction and
reflection are the key elements of a playful learning situation
Nobuyuki Ueda
Empty boxes, cartons or packaging materials left over from your shopping
can be transformed into endless playthings that are limited only by your
child’s imagination.
They can decorate the boxes, put them on their heads as headgear,
mount them on their bodies as body-armor, sit inside them as cars, ships
or planes, etc.
Question 9: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Response 9: Creating their own playthings allows your child to develop
his or her imagination. Boxes and packaging materials provide endless
fascination for the child.
In fact, the simpler and less expensive the materials, the better they are
for the development of imagination. For instance, children often have
much more fun playing with the packaging materials of the toys rather
than with the toys themselves.
Mind exercise 9
Ask your child how to reduce the space required to keep the boxes.
Answer 9: You can put the smaller boxes into the bigger one or you
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could just fold the boxes.
Tip No. 10 - The Map of the World
“Society has not given the same attention to the education of the genius
as has been given to other groups. We spend millions every year for the
mentally retarded. The unfortunate child of superior intellect spends his
time in a usual commonplace school assimilating a diet far below his
expected capacity. ” Josephine Concannon
Discuss with your child the difference between the world map represented
on a globe and a world map in a map-book. How are they different?
The globe, being a three-dimensional image, gives a more accurate
representation of our planet Earth than the two-dimensional map book.
You can never accurately flatten the globe into a 2-D representation.
Question 10: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Response 10: The exercise will help your child to understand that we can
never fully represent our real 3-D world in 2-D pictures. This will trigger
greater interest and curiosity in your child to find out more about the
world around him or her.
Mind exercise 10
Ask your child to draw a picture of Answer 10: The picture will not look
a cat or dog using a marker pen
the same because you project a 3-D
on the skin of an orange. Next
image on a 2-D surface.
peel the orange from the top with
a small knife in a circular direction
(see diagram). Reconstruct the
picture by laying the peeled skin
flat on the table. Does the picture
look the same?
Tip No. 11 - Watching Clouds
“In pretend or make-believe play, imagination is given a full reign – this
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form of play stimulates the child’s inventive rather than imitative
abilities. ” Dorothy G . Singer & Jerome L. Singer
On a day when the sky is brilliant blue and the clouds move by in their
formations of different shapes, ask your children to interpret their shapes.
Ask them what they can see. Are there animals, people or shapes of other
living things or objects? Can they see dinosaurs, elephants, eagles, tigers,
etc?
Bring sketchbooks for yourself and your kids and draw what you see
above you. Do not disagree with your children. Instead, be fascinated with
what they describe to you.
Question 11: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Response 11: Fantasy and imagination are important ingredients for a
creative mind. By asking your children to associate cloud shapes with
animals, you are nurturing their natural and inborn power of association.
This will strengthen their powers of observation and correlation, a
fundamental creative skill.
After all, creativity is about the ability to make connections between two
or more unrelated objects or events.
Mind exercise 11
What material has lots of holes yet can hold water
Answer 11: Sponge.
Tip No. 12 - What Are They Selling?
“Focus should be to encourage and develop creativity in all children
without the ultimate goal being to make all children inventors, but rather
to develop a future generation of critical thinkers. ” Faraq Mousa
Whenever a TV commercial comes on, ask your children what's being sold
and what methods are being used to convince us to buy the products.
Children love this game because the answer is not always obvious.
Sometimes the commercials are subtle, and it can be challenging for
young children, sometimes even for us, to identify what was being sold.
You should also ask them whether the advertisement's claims are
believable and if not, why not?
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Question 12: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Response 12: Children love this game because the answer may not be
obvious. The game will stimulate your child's thinking process and make
them less gullible about the advertisement’s claims.
Mind exercise 12
Hold a magnet and gently glide it over the TV screen with the TV on. What
happens to the picture and why?
Answer 12: The picture will be distorted. At this stage it suffices to
explain that TV signals depend on magnetism.
Tip No. 13 - Benefits of Father’s Involvement
“Life is demanding with pressures squeezing from every side. Parenting,
though, requires a lifetime investment. It's not something one can just do
during commercial breaks or while driving the children to school. ” Scott Turansky & Joanne Miller
Mothers are usually the ones who spend the most time with her children.
However, the father’s role is also very important. Fathers should spend
more time with his children telling stories, playing games and helping out
with their school work.
Question 13: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Response 13: Fathers exert a very powerful influence in their children's
lives. Researchers discovered from surveys of over 20,000 parents that,
when fathers took an active role in their children's education, their
children were:
• more likely to receive good results
• more likely to enjoy school
Children who grow up with warm, nurturing and actively involved fathers
(as opposed to uninvolved fathers) reap tremendous benefits including:
• better school performance
• increased self-esteem
• healthier relationships with peers
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Mind exercise 13
You are standing at the edge of a ravine exactly 100 meters from the
stony bottom and holding an egg in your right outstretched hand. You let
go of the egg and let it fall into the ravine. What happens to the egg when
it has fallen 100m?
Answer 13: Nothing. The egg hasn’t reached the bottom yet at 100m.
The distance to the bottom is 100m plus the height of your outstretched
hand above the ground where you stand.
Tip No. 14 - Jig-saw Puzzles
“Play is perhaps the most important element of human development. Play
helps us develop a social sense, physical abilities and communicative
skills. ” Doris Bergen
Get a jig-saw puzzle set corresponding to the age of your children. Ask
them to assemble the pieces according to the picture given. Now turn the
pieces over so that the pictures are covered. Ask your child to assemble
the jig-saw puzzle using these blank pieces.
Is there a difference in difficulty in assembling the pieces?
Why?
Question 14: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Response 14: Assembling jig-saw pieces provide an important hands-on
learning experience for your child. The pieces with the picture facing up
represent knowledge. The blank pieces represent ignorance.
The exercise therefore demonstrates the importance of knowledge in
problem-solving. That's why children need to go to school.
Mind exercise 14
Where is the principle of the jig-saw puzzle applied in real life?
Answer 14: It is applied to the construction of pre-fabricated houses and
bridges. Many manufacturing operations involving the assembly of parts
also utilize this principle.
Tip No. 15 - Paper Fantasy
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Ask your children to crumble a soft piece of paper tissue in their hands.
Start with geometric shapes like cubes and pyramids by compressing the
crumbled piece of paper. Once they are familiar with shaping the paper
they can proceed to making animals or objects . By tearing, pulling,
folding and rolling the paper your children should be able to transform the
paper into wings, head, tails or legs.
Question 15: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
This is a simple but effective exploration of the creativity of your child. Let
them fantasize about their creation.
Don't worry if the piece of paper doesn't look like the object or animal
they described. Remember the surrealist art of Picasso, the great artist?
Mind exercise 15
Can you wrap up fire with a piece of paper?
Answer 15: Yes , you can. Have you ever seen paper lanterns?
Tip No. 16 - Stacking Cans
‘ When you create an environment where learning can happen, learning
happens. ” Maria Montessori
Empty drink cans can be great creative playthings for your children. Ask
your child to make the tallest structure possible using only 10 cans. Once
they have finished, ask them whether there is any way that they could
stack them even higher.
Question 16: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Response 16: Your children learn about the concept of stability. A flat
surface is inherently more stable than a curved surface. To stimulate your
children's thinking skills further, ask them why cans are usually round and
not square or any other shape - Round is stronger.
It is possible to use thinner cans and thus to save on materials by having
pleats around the cans.
Mind exercise 16
Can you build a stable structure 10 cans high by stacking one can on top
of another?
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Answer 16: There are many ways of doing this. You could do it outdoors
and fill up the lower cans with water and using progressively less water as
you go higher. Make sure you are prepared to get wet. It will be a lot of
fun for your kid though.
Another way is to use double-sided tape to glue the cans together.
You can also stack the cans between two sticks anchored firmly in the
ground.
There are endless ways of doing this. Just use your imagination!
Tip No. 17 – Singing
“A genius must be a well-rounded person, familiar with many things: art,
music, science, sports. He or she can't be restricted to only one field of
expertise. ” Yoshiro Nakamatsu
Sing a popular song along with your child and clap your hands in rhythm
to the music. It is even better if both of you sway your bodies to the beat
of the music as well.
Question 17: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Answer 17: Singing with music activates both the left (logical) and the
right (creative) brain hemispheres of your child. A child requires whole-
brain thinking to succeed in life. By using both singing and body
movements in tune to the music, you are programming your child’s crucial
thinking skills for success.
Mind exercise 17
Encourage your children to compose their own songs by replacing the
lyrics or words of the song with those of their own. Using your children’s
name in the songs would be excellent.
You could include some elements of your child’s life such as the names of
family members, friends, etc., into the lyrics of the song. This will make
your child very happy and love to sing even more.
Alternatively, you could hum the tune of some songs and ask your
children to identify the title of the song.
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Tip No. 18 – Fun with coins
“Creativity is more of a dull glow than a divine spark- the more fanning it
receives, the brighter it will burn. ” James Adams
Playing with coins is great fun and a fantastic learning experience for your
child. You could spin, toss and roll the coins along its edge. Ask your child
to follow the movements of the coins and make some observations. Could
your child repeat what you have done with the coins?
Question 18: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Answer 18: The different movements of the coins will arouse the
curiosity of your child. Curiosity is one of the key elements in stimulating
creative thinking.
The observation and playing with the coins will further strengthen your
child’s creative thinking skills.
Mind exercise 18
Arrange 7 coins in an L-
Answer 18: Remove the last coin on the
shape (4 coins in one row
row of 4 coins and stack it on top of the
and 3 in the other) as
coin in the corner.
shown. How do you make 2
rows of 4 coins by moving
only one coin?
Tip 19 - Brain Food
“The longer the child is breastfed, up to study limits of 24 months, the
greater their IQ scores and school performance. The human child's brain is
growing most rapidly during the first two years of life. Since we know that
some of the ingredients in breast-milk are critical to brain growth and
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development, the results are not surprising. ” Katherine Dettwyler
The most important brain nutrient for your child’s brain is mother’s milk .
Mothers should breast-feed their babies as much as possible. The other
very important but frequently neglected nutrient is water. Make sure that
your child drinks water throughout the day.
Babies born to mothers who had poor diets may have some form of
mental retardation or behavioral problems. Also, children who do not
receive adequate nutrition in their first few years of life may develop
problems later.
Scientists at Okayama University in Japan have found that breastfeeding
boosts the mother’s brainpower. Women who breastfeed, produce the
hormone oxytocin, which stimulates milk production. Oxytocin also
increases activity in the hippocampus, a part of the brain responsible for
learning, thereby enhancing the intelligence and memory of the mother.
Question 19: How can this nurture creativity in my children?
Response 19: The brain needs to be constantly nourished with water to
function well.
Regarding breast milk, Dr. Noboru Kobayashi, a prominent Japanese
pediatrician and director of Child Research Net, mother’s breast milk is
rich in energy and most of it is used for the brain’s development.
In newborns, approximately 15% of the baby's weight is due to the brain
mass but, with the rapid growth of the body, the size of the brain
decreases in proportion.
When the child reaches the age of two, the brain has already developed to
60% of its capacity as an adult. Therefore, the assimilated breast milk's
energy will be consumed with the brain that is actively developing at a
rapid speed.
Tip No. 20 - Concentrate on Strengths not Weaknesses
“Whenever we pass judgment on a child, we fail to see him as a whole
person. True, he may be nervous, shy, stubborn, moody, or violent; we
may know his siblings or his background, or think we recognize family
traits. But to focus on any one aspect of a child, especially a negative one,
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