Encouraging Creativity in Our Children

A local Puget Sound speaker, who is often quoting the Scandinavian saying "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing," presented last week at Lake Washington Institute of Technology to an audience of parents.

Nancy Blakey, mom of four grown children and two grandchildren, has been sharing her message and activity ideas since her youngest was 2.  Her audience this time were the parents from Coop Toddler and Preschool Groups from Bothell, Kirkland, Redmond and Woodinville.

The topic of Blakey's presentation was "Encouraging Creativity in our Kids." To where this can occur, she said, "Home is the seedbed of creativity and imagination." And to what this will lead to, Blakey said "Resiliency, problem-solving, resourcefulness and happiness in our children."

Luckily, Blakey gives a formula for creativity that consists of just three factors: Time, Tools and Tolerance.

Okay, not "just" three factors as some of those do carry some weight. We all need time, right? Blakey went on to explain what the big stealers from time were and quickly eased the audience from the first....(gasp!)...T.V. or screen time and the second organized activities.

The audience chuckled as Blakey told the story of when she was writing one of her books, 101 Alternatives to Television, she was using T.V. to entertain the kids so she could meet the deadlines. She went on to explain what it was like to first take away the T.V. time (not easy at first!). "Boredom is a good thing," Blakey said. "It is good they learn to deal with it while they are young."

For the other time stealer, organized activities, she said, "It is important for kids to have doodle and hum time." Children need integration time before and after school or other activities. "In Japan," she said, "they don't have school buses because they value that before and after school walking together time." On the way to school, it preps the mind for the school day, and on the way home begins the integration of what was learned during the day.

What type of Tools will be needed for this?

Blakey's simple solution is "Themed Boxes" and having them "accessible to the kids." In many homes the barely used dining/front room makes a great space. In smaller homes, it can be as small as a card table, where the boxes can tuck underneath.  

ART Box: Includes tape, paper punches among the traditional art supplies. Blakey said it depends on the family what goes in each box.

INVENTOR's Box: Clean out your junk drawer, find material at garage sales and allow for functional freedom. "A capacitor may become the eyes of a robot," Blakey said.

OUTDOOR Box: Include a cheap stopwatch, old tractor tire inner tube and a tarp that can be tied up with rope to make a tent. "Being outside is one of the best things we can model for our children," she said.

SPECIALTY Boxes: These boxes are specific to the child's age and interest; for example, an electricity box, puppet making box, dress-up box.

This brings us to the third factor in this creativity formula: Tolerance. Allow for a messier area in your home—all within reason, of course; kids are still required to keep it somewhat in order. It is good to let them clean up their own messes to help them realize they will have to clean up their own messes through life, too.  

Resources for where to find affordable items for boxes include Goodwill in Bellevue,  for dress-up clothes (go at the end of October when the costumes are half off), to name a few. For activity ideas and to read Blakey's blog, visit her website at www.nancyblakey.com.

At one point she asked the audience to think of one of their first memories, saying "90 percent of the time it will be one from the outdoors." Often it is not from any elaborate set-up either. In one of her stories, the dirt-pile becomes the most sought-after play area by the neighborhood kids. Blakey herself was not one to buy toys for her kids. When her children's grandparents would ask what to buy for her kids and hoping for an easy toy buy, they would get an answer that more resembled "1/2 inch pvc pipes, connecters, etc." They were hoping she would just have said a "Gameboy."