4Real Forums: Jumpstarting creativity

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Topic: Jumpstarting creativity

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Sarah M
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Joined: Jan 06 2008
Location: Washington
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Posts: 1423

Posted: Jan 15 2009 at 12:00pm \| IP Logged

What kinds of things do you suggest for a child who needs a jumpstart to get her creative juices flowing? I was recently over-working/over-scheduling my daughter, and now she's having a hard time finding interesting, worthwhile activities to do in her free time. "Go play" doesn't cut it with her like it does for the littler ones. She does have a knitting project going, and a scrapbook-- do you have any other ideas for what I can offer her to get her really going?

ALmom
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Joined: May 18 2005
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Posted: Jan 15 2009 at 12:25pm \| IP Logged

Time is probably the most important, but don't worry too much. After all your daugther is only 7 and different children with different personalities are better at self-entertaining than others. If your dd is a big people person, you may see her creativity come out as she plays with her siblings. Some of ours who were not good self-players early on would end up making mini-books for siblings or teaching them singing/dancing routines or ....

. They just needed totally unstructured, open ended time with their siblings without me hanging over them. (They didn't necessarily do this when I was in the room when they started). It doesn't mean I wasn't nearby enough to know what they were up too - just that I might be within earshot but "busy" folding laundry or something.

Also they had pretty free access to materials like paper, supplies, junk, whatever and I didn't make them put away 1 toy before getting out another as long as they willingly helped clean up when they were done playing. (I accepted the fact that early on I would have to work alongside them to help them organize the clean up. Things like - "ok so and so why don't you get the blocks and ... I'll help with ..." kind of stuff. They might have blocks, plastic animals, trains and duplos all at once and they built some rather elaborate structures and played games where the animals had homes and ...... They might even have tiny scraps of paper and scissors and lo and behold the animals were writing notes to one another. (Only the older could write so she was directing/dictating quite a bit but she did the writing for the others when they had specific things they (rather whichever critter) insisted on saying).

Janet

mooreboyz
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Joined: March 16 2008
Location: Wisconsin
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Posts: 318

Posted: Jan 15 2009 at 12:51pm \| IP Logged

I posted this question a few months ago for my 7 year old. Here is a site that has some neat ideas:
think

and here is a link to my post
post

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Jackie
7 boys - 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 years

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