“Joy and happiness in living, love for all existence, a power and energy for work, such are among the lifelong results of a right cultivation of the feeling for beauty and art”.
Rudolf Steiner
I have been getting a load of reader mail lately asking me the same question. How do I encourage my little girl to be artistic? Is she really into it or is it just me pushing her to make stuff?
The answer to that last question is – YES!
Milly, my 8 year old, is one of the most creative kids I have ever met. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I will do is walk into her room for a good morning kiss and cuddle. And every day. Without fail. She is sitting on her floor or at her little desk, making something. Sometimes she makes books, recipe books, story books. She makes necklaces, cards, drawings, collages, paintings, cards. She sews. She is just hooked.
To encourage her to be creative and love using her hands, has been a conscious decision on my part, since she was a little baby. In fact, every six months since she was born I sit down and write down my parenting goals for her for. And every time I do this, one of them is to encourage her to be creative.
“Education is not the filling of a pale but the lighting of a fire”
William Butler YeatsI have put together some tips to help you raise a creative child:
1. Tap into your child’s natural curiosity.
Children are naturally creative because they are curious about how things are made and about how they can make things. Encourage this by talking to them continually about the things you are making and involving them in your problem solving sessions. Often I will ask Milly questions like, “how do you think I could make this look better?”. or “what colour thread should I use to sew this softie?”. And, of course, listen to the answers.
2. Turn off the TV.
Raise your child without the expectation that when he/she wakes in the morning the first thing she does is turn on the TV. There is no need for it. If you make TV an occasional treat, they will not look at it as a viable option for filling their time. When you remove this (or never have it there in the first place) then it is not something they think of as an option. If your child is in the habit of watching TV for more than half an hour per day, break the habit now! I was so shocked recently to learn that the Australian government has just launched a new campaign to educate parents to not let their children spend more than two hours a day on a computer or watching TV. TWO HOURS A DAY! (that is 1/7 of the time they are awake!). I thought that half an hour a day was somewhat excessive!
On that note, the biggest problem I have with children and TV is not what it is filling them with, but what it is leaving them without. As a primary school teacher, we see children now who have a distinct lack of imagination, very few fine motor skills, very few skills such as being able to use scissors, hold a paint brush, make a pom-pom, knit, weave, make their own cards. It makes me sad that their little lives are so limited!
When you take away TV as a habit for your child, replace it with something else. Try having a month without TV and every afternoon either set aside time to craft something with your child.
3. Read up on Steiner Education.
I got so much inspiration from taking my daughter to a Steiner playgroup when she was two years old and doing a lot of reading on Steiner education. Children educated in the Steiner way are taught to use their hands while still very little. They are taught many crafts. They are taught to use clay, to weave, to dye wool, to paint, and many more skills.
In the primary years, these children are taught so much more than that. They are empowered to believe that they CAN make anything they want to with their hands. So many times when I talk to children (and adults) about making things I hear them say, “I can’t do that”. With Steiner children the attitude is much more likely to be, “how can I make that?”
4. Organise crafty playdates.
One of my favourite things to do is have play dates where all the children come over to make something. I started doing this when Milly was really young. Of course, that is not all they did! They also run around the backyard playing with the dog, jump on the trampoline, swing on our tree swing and shoot hoops. But I also get together all the things and help them make a necklace or wrist band, or card.
5. Take your child to exhibitions, galleries, museums craft fairs, fabric stores.
Take your little one anywhere and everywhere you go where their creative and visual vocabulary could be increased. Children get used to whatever they are exposed to. Childen who have not been taken to art galleries, don’t like them. Children who have mostly do. When you go out to exhibitions and galleries, once again tap into their natural curiosity. Ask questions like “which is your favourite painting?”, “why do you like that one” and “do you want me to tell you how the artist made it?”. Listen to their adorable childlike insights.
Oh, and don’t forget to tell your child that they too could make art like that.
6. Make it all lighthearted and fun.
There is nothing more offputting for a little bean than a parent who is too intense about their indoctrination attempts. When you are creating with your child, keep it light! If she is bored or has had enough of sewing a bag, let her finish it another day or finish it yourself! Just realise that little people have a very short attention span and need constant activity changes.
7. Give up perfectionism
Yes! I am talking to the parents here. I have to fight the urge sometimes to ‘fix up’ the things Milly is making or to step in when it doesn’t meet up to my expectations of perfection. I learnt my lesson a few years ago, when I did this one day and saw her completely withdraw from the activity within the space of a minute. She never finished it and left to do something else.
By giving up perfectionism you are allowing your child the opportunity to disover their own way of doing things, to make their own standards and to take risks. You also help improve their confidence in their own abilities!
Part 2 will be coming in the next few days!
Enjoy your child!
Mia
