Building Creative Kids, Naturally
Part 1: Basic Creative Supplies
by MaryAnn Kohl
Creativity and its potential pandemonium can be a little intimidating for parents new to the experience, but remember that anything that encourages creativity is the right thing to do. Supplies need not be expensive or hard to find. The basics are the best. Easy, enjoyable suggestions of materials and supplies that will encourage creativity in children are at your fingertips.
Crayons and Chalk
Crayons are the most versatile art material ever created! Children draw with crayons on big paper, small paper, cardboard, paper plates, fabric and more. Broken crayons can be melted into coloring disks in muffin tins. Grated crayons can be ironed between wax paper sheets. Rubbing peeled crayons on their sides is a new experience for many kids.
Drawing with chalk is especially stimulating on sidewalks and playgrounds and increases brain development because of the kinesthetic muscle involvement.
In any kind of drawing that encourages creativity, staying in the lines is not important. Drawing and experimenting is important.
Paint
Painting is versatile and unlimited in creative possibilities. Paint on paper at an easel, on a table, on the wall, or on the floor. Paint directly on windows or on the shower wall. Try different kinds of papers, like bumpy, thick, colored, slick, or exceptionally tiny. Use different types of “brushes” such as cotton balls, cotton swabs, sponges, feathers, toy cars, balloons, popsicle sticks, and of course real brushes. Paint with one color, or the entire rainbow. Buy paint, or make your own!
Playdoughs and Clays
Playdoughs and clays are a wonderful way for children to create individually while pounding out their tensions and using up bundles of energy. Children would agree that big muscle creativity is always the best! Children can find a hundred ways to manipulate clay, from pulling to squeezing, smoothing to rolling, pounding to punching, and pinching to smashing. Add some kitchen tools like rolling pins and cookie cutters, and various other tools from the toy box, and you have the perfect formula for hours of creativity. Here’s one of my favorite recipes:
MaryAnn's Favorite Playdough
1. Mix on low heat in a pan until a ball forms:
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 cup salt
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
2. Leave natural or color with food coloring, tempera paint, Kool-aid, or Jell-O, or watercolor paint.
3. Knead, and then explore warm or cool.
4. Store in an airtight container.
Sand
A child’s life without sand is like a chocolate chip cookie without the chips! Sand is unstructured and satisfying for children. It can be relaxing, or very hard work. Sand is called a sensory experience because the children can feel it as they create. As they mix and stir, measure and pour, mold and squeeze, children are using pre-math skills while employing their imaginations. Sand can be explored in a sandbox, in a sensory table, in a plastic tub (put a tarp under it!), or at the beach. Add some tools like buckets, spoons, shovels, toy cars, and figures to the sand play for increased creativity. To color sand, mix in some powdered tempera paint. Draw with colored sand by pouring it over glue lines. Fill jars with layers of colored sand. Mix sand into playdough for a sensory exploration, or into paint for textured painting results.
Water
Like sand, water is versatile, exciting, and soothing – one of the all time most creative materials for young children to explore. Fill a tub or a bucket. Supply objects to explore as “float or sink” and for pouring and measuring. Experiment with added food color or bubbles, dolls to wash, or paintbrushes for painting with clear water that evaporates. Sponges will yield endless fun. A few towels close at hand are a good idea too.
A Final Thought
Parents who respect and encourage children’s creativity help them learn to think and solve problems for themselves. Children who feel free to make mistakes and to explore and experiment will also fee free to invent, create, and find new ways to do things that may eventually change the world!
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