How To Foster Your Child’s Talents And Creative Thoughts
Watching our kids grow-up and learn new things is one of my favourite things about being a parent. I become especially proud when one of the boys masters a new skill,or shows off what they learned or can do. Every once and a while I notice that one of the boys gets incredibly interested in something; sometimes these interests are fleeting lasting only a couple of weeks but sometimes they last longer. I believe strongly in fostering your child’s interests.
I believe strongly in fostering your child’s interests.
In order to do this the first thing you need to do is provide them with the basics they need to explore their interests. Lately for Dyl, it has been drawing. He always liked colouring, but lately, he has been asking to do it a little more often and the ‘pieces’ he produces are getting better. As for Ry, he is very interested in climbing just about anything. The easiest thing to do to foster your child’s skills is provide them what they need. For Dyl, it’s as simple as giving him some paper and something to draw with, where as for Ry, it’s extra time at the park and challenging him to climb things more independently. It is important here to provide them with options, and allow them to explore and do in a judgement free manner.
It is important here to provide them with options, and allow them to explore and do in a judgement free manner.
Engage your children in conversation; try asking them about what they enjoyed doing today, or how they surprised themselves today. Use this information as a starting point to see if your child would like to pursue this newfound interest.
Step back and give them some space. Many of you have heard this before, but this goes beyond letting them explore their physical limits. Remove the typical constraints like colouring within the lines or following instructions to the ‘T’. Foster their creativity and their independent thought.
As your child ages, you can ask probing questions that get them to think differently about how to approach the task at hand.
Is your child running into a roadblock or stumped in a specific situation? Don’t give them the answer. Instead provide them with options of how to solve the problem at hand, and then ask them why they chose a specific option. This builds the groundwork for problem solving and teaching them how to think through problems on their own. As your child ages, you can ask probing questions that get them to think differently about how to approach the task at hand.
Creative play is great way for kids of all ages to test themselves. Museums, parks, playgrounds, art tables, blocks, and reading are all great ways to foster this. As parents be supportive and don’t just reward the accomplishments for many things the process is more important than goal.
Andrew obtained his PhD from the University of Waterloo in Physiology, a topic not entirely having to do with with kids health specifically. Andrew’s expertise in kids health and raising children stems from his now 4+ years of direct hands on experiences with 4 young boys. My goal is to share some practical advice and some of the little not-so-perfect things my kids have done and how we managed to figure it all out so you can too.
