Many adults explain to me that their biggest problem in fostering and understanding children's creativity is that they themselves do not believe they are already creative. They have learned repetitively and their jobs and lives are monotonous, without much space to develop new ideas.
In this article I am going to give you Ten ideas to foster your creativity as parents and educators. I assure you that creativity is still bright within you, you just need to trust yourself and dare.
Play with the children or simply, play
One of the characteristics of the human being is that he is a "homo ludens" throughout his existence. The game allows us to develop new strategies, enjoy our intelligence and develop our talents.
A wonderful way to play is to do it with the children, putting ourselves at their height, without directing or imposing ourselves and simply enjoying the proposals we both make. But if that is complicated or we get bored, recovering the pleasure of the game is in many places. Look for board or other games that motivate you. I am a fan of board games and I recommend some such as Dominion, Magic cards or those of the Game of Thrones board, which are my favorites, but there are thousands adapted to any topic of your interest.
Get bored
We have so much distraction at our disposal that there is no space or time to boredom. And boredom is enormously creative as it forces us to introspection and questions, to seek new opportunities for thinking with which to fill our minds. Leave a weekly time for silence, without television, computer or people who give you talk, and let your mind fly, like when you were children. The inventive will take the reins sooner or later. Trust your brain.
Read a new book about a topic or an author you don't know
Many times, even regular readers, we accommodate the authors and topics that we have always liked. That enjoyment should not be lost, but we must not forget that there are thousands of books and themes that are unknown to us and can change our minds. At least once in a while you have to dare to discover a completely new book that can turn our thoughts around.
Meet people from other places in the world
You can travel, and that's wonderful. You can start participating in an activity where you also find people from other countries. You can approach groups and communities from different places that live where you live. You can also use social networks to connect with people similar to you who live in other parts of the world and enrich your vision with their different experiences. Embrace diversity.
Meet Fantasy and Science Fiction
Fantasy and Science Fiction are very powerful flavorings for your creativity. You can approach it in many formats: literature, movies, series, comics and fan conventions. It will open your mind to worlds that you have not dreamed of and you will learn to be your creator of new universes and solutions to problems that are yet to come.
Get closer to nature
We need nature To feel complete, it renews us and gives us energy for itself. The beauty, the pure air, the natural exercise, the experiences and discoveries that it gives us will enhance our creativity because we are part of it and sometimes we live too far away.
Recover an activity that you will love in childhood
When we were children we dared with everything, and surely there was a sport, activity or art that you were passionate about and you were leaving aside for other obligations. Remember which one it was. Paint ?, jump in puddles ?, sing in disguise ?, write stories ?, disarm toys to see how they worked?
It's not too late for recover those passions that made life so exciting and they made you feel full of life and joy. A great artist, an inventions, a world explorer. It is again. Grant it and you will feel like all that creativity without judgments comes back to you.
Do something you always wanted to do
Just as we abandoned activities that we were passionate about, life makes us sometimes abandon those dreams that we did not dare to realize. Learn to ride a horse, sing boleros, make pottery, travel the globe ... whatever is waiting for you and you deserve to try. When you do something you always wanted to do You will see that trust grows and you feel much more prepared to accompany those of the children.
Meditate
The meditation It is a technique that helps our mind be free of negative thoughts, judgments, pressures and preconceived ideas. It relaxes us and makes us have the most awake senses and intelligence. It is not difficult to learn to meditate and does not require much time a day. A few minutes are enough and in addition, meditation will help you be more serene and take tense situations with children with much more tranquility and empathy.
Learn new things
You don't know everything? There is an infinite variety of knowledge that you have not yet discovered and that can change the way you think and understand the world. We adjust to what we learned and we resist spending time getting to know a new discipline, but all that time we dedicate will not only make us wiser, but will also offer us the opportunity to rethink. Anthropology, dinosaurs, history, classical music, pirates, computer programming, fossils, ancient civilizations, world religions, languages, cuisine ... I am sure there is something that will still give you a smile with the pleasure of knowledge . And I assure you that nothing awakens our creativity more than learning new things and that you will be a model for children.
I hope you apply any of these ten ideas to be models of creativity for children and tell us if they have served you to feel again as before having lost your spark.
In Babies and more | The school kills creativity, Maggie Simpson and her manifesto for creative freedom, "Educate to make citizens", a documentary by Eduardo Punset
