{"id":61244,"date":"2020-08-25T11:26:35","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T11:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/parenting\/how-to-raise-creative-kids\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T09:55:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T09:55:06","slug":"how-to-raise-creative-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/parenting\/how-to-raise-creative-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Tips on How to Raise Creative Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"ChildIn an ideal world, all of our children would be naturally equally talented, creative, and inquisitive.<\/span><\/p>\n

In reality, you, as parents, can implore many ways to foster creativity in your kids, along with other traits.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is becoming increasingly important in a world that is hung up on productivity and deadlines than nurturing and raising creative kids. A world that often doesn’t do well in a restricted and overly structured environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s look at some tips on how to raise creative kids and help the child tap into their imagination:<\/span><\/p>\n

Where does creativity come from?<\/b><\/p>\n

To better understand creativity, we first need to look at its origins.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists may have established<\/span><\/a> that a large part of creativity is genetic. We empirically also know that some people are simply more creative than others and that some are born with talents others lack. We are referring here to skills in music, sports, writing, art, and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, <\/span>some will be more creative in certain areas than others<\/span><\/a>. As parents, our task is to identify where our children’s creativity lies and how to develop creativity in kids by helping them work on this skill as much (or as little) as they want.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, everyone can become more creative, children and adults alike – they may not have a certain talent, but you can certainly help your children become more creative and more curious.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, let’s not forget that your child may not wish to focus on their innate talents. While we may feel it’s a shame to let them go to waste, we should be guided by their interests and aspirations too, and not their natural gifts alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s about finding the right balance between what they might want to do, and what they are good at, and it is a balance that is hard to strike.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it will ensure we are <\/span>raising satisfied and well-rounded individuals<\/span><\/a> who will not feel frustrated as adults or have not had the opportunity to apply their skills and talents in a certain way.<\/span><\/p>\n

And now for the actual steps, you can take to foster and encourage creative thinking in children, in the most general sense of the term.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>1. Limit the number of toys they have<\/span><\/h2>\n

Research has shown<\/span><\/a> that toddlers who had fewer toys to play with played with those toys for longer and generally engaged in more creative activities for kids than toddlers who had much more variety available in the toy department.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can also back this example up with another, far less scientific one.<\/span><\/p>\n

In her Autobiography, Agatha Christie details her encounters as an older adult with young children who complain of being bored, even though they have been given plenty of toys.<\/span><\/p>\n

She compares them to herself, who had fewer toys but could spend hours playing with her hoop on what she called the Tubular Railway (a part of her garden), or making up stories about fictional girls and their antics in an imaginary school.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I hope we can all agree that the Queen of Crime is, without a doubt, one of the more creative individuals ever to have walked this earth, it seems there is something to be said about providing fewer toys in an aim to enable more creative free play in our children.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>2. Help them fall in love with reading<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"HappyReading is an incredibly beneficial habit to form, and the sooner you start your kids on books, the better.<\/span><\/p>\n

The more your child knows about the world and what is possible and about worlds that are not real but equally entertaining, the better building blocks they will have for their creative play and imagination.<\/span><\/p>\n

You should start reading with your kids <\/span>as early as possible<\/span>, even before they are born. As they grow, make sure to still hold on to the routine of reading together. This will <\/span>build happy memories<\/span><\/a> and form some very positive associations with reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

How to make kids love reading?<\/b><\/p>\n

Focus on two kinds of books equally: those that come as recommended reading for your child’s age, and the books that they want to read.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reading only what you feel you have to can sometimes take the fun out of the activity, so leaving some room for personal preference is key.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can also introduce some reading comprehension workbooks that will help your child develop their vocabulary and storytelling skills, and help them better understand the material they have been immersed in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related Reading: <\/strong>5 Tips for Surviving a Remodeling With Kids<\/a><\/em><\/pre>\n
<\/span>3. Creating time and space for creativity (and getting bored)<\/span><\/h2>\n
A structured schedule leaves little room for creativity, so you should aim to provide some free time for your child, in essence, a time when they can be creative kids.<\/span><\/p>\n
Leaving an open slot in your child’s day when they can do what they want to do is the way to go. It may be hard to achieve with our modern way of life but aim for an unstructured half an hour or hour, as often as feasible.<\/span><\/p>\n
This is free playtime when you let your child come up with their way to pass the time.<\/span><\/p>\n
They might come to you saying they are bored but don’t fret, that is a good thing.<\/span><\/p>\n
Boredom allows us to daydream, which is itself a gateway to creativity. It also allows time for new ways of looking at things and new ideas to be born, so definitely aim for some boredom.<\/span><\/p>\n
As for creative space, this can be a desk where you have all sorts of crayons, pencils, papers, blocks, crafts, models, and anything else you can think they can play with and make something with their hands.<\/span><\/p>\n
You might want to choose a space that can get messy and untidy, even dirty, that you don’t need to clean up after each play session.<\/span><\/p>\n
Also watch: How to create a kids creative space.