Creative Play

Sir Ken Robinson is an education and creativity expert, and has spoken all over the world. He recorded one of the most watched TED talks, all about creativity and schools, and he identifies creativity as an essential skill for children. He said
that “creativity is as important now in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.”

The following activities encourage creativity in our children by allowing them to explore, try out new ideas and use their imagination. They can use lots of different items, altering one or two things, and making something new. When doing these activities with another person, children will get a chance to problem solve, communicate, and listen to one another. They will also make mistakes, and learn how to manage those, plus they will get opportunities to deal with frustration in a healthy way.

One of my favorite ways to encourage creativity is to use arts and crafts. There are several arts-and-crafts-based activities below to help kids to hone their imagination skills and create whatever comes to mind. This helps kids practice flexible and innovative thinking.