Creative thinking skills is a valuable asset for your child’s future. If they are trained to become creative thinkers from a young age, children can face anything!
Creative thinking refers to the ability to develop new ideas by using one’s creativity. Simply put, it means to adopt a creative mindset to tackle problems and challenges.
Creative thinking presents numerous benefits for children. For instance, they can use their original ideas to develop new solutions. Children can also use these skills in their daily lives!
In this article, we’ll cover 7 tips on how to boost your child’s creative thinking skills.
By using these tips, parents can be more involved in getting children’s creative juices flowing!
1. Seek out new experiences
Children can’t push themselves to be creative if they continue to follow the same routine.
Sometimes, you need to explore new things that are outside your comfort zone in order to develop new ideas.
Not to worry, children don’t need to go extremely beyond their comfort zone to solve this.
This can be done through small, baby steps – like reading a book outside their preferred genre or eating some food they’ve never tried before.
These new experiences will allow children to factor a world they haven’t encountered before, and develop new ideas or solutions they wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.
2. Engage in brainstorming sessions
Another good tip to stimulate your child’s creativity is to have them brainstorm new ideas with other people.
Having a second opinion can sometimes work wonders to get the gears in their brains turning.
When you bounce off ideas with other people, they may point out a perspective you missed or an aspect you didn’t consider.
Brainstorming sessions don’t have to be formal either. It can be done through a simple gathering of friends or through group discussions in class.
3. Let them use their imagination
Contrary to what some people may think, utilizing our imaginations isn’t a waste of time.
In fact, some of your favorite possessions in this world wouldn’t have been possible without the power of imagination!
For example, Harry Potter certainly wouldn’t have existed if 32-year-old J.K Rowling hadn’t used her imagination to visualize the wizarding world.
So, keep encouraging your child’s imagination every chance you get!
4. Let their thoughts wander
Pushing out original ideas is easier said than done. Sometimes, children’s brains will reach a dead end no matter how hard they think.
The best thing to do in this case is to let their mind rest. In other words, letting your child’s thoughts wander without an end goal intentionally.
Let them think of nothing or everything. Allow them to daydream or zone out. Let their minds power down before they can start becoming creative thinkers again.
Remember to not pressure them either. Who knows, maybe they’ll reach an eureka moment when you least expect it!
5. Practice having an open mind
If you want your child to keep developing new ideas, you need to also let themselves open up to new things and experiences.
That means you can’t afford to have your child be closed-minded.
Keeping an open mind means to always be curious. Curiosity is crucial to gain new insights and inspiration that will fuel their brains.
Children can try to keep an open mind by not rejecting things instantly. They can always reject it afterwards, but at the very least they need to try it out for themselves to make a decision.
In fact, children can also gain inspiration from things that you’ve rejected as well!
After all, being creative means evaluating different angles. So if one perspective doesn’t work, your child can always try another.
6. Always be positive
Most people don’t realize this, but positivity goes a long way in pushing out one’s creativity.
After all, if you keep looking at the negative side of things, chances are you’re quicker to give up on innovative solutions.
Embracing positivity is an important aspect of creative thinking.
If your child has a positive mindset, they can generate new ideas easier. It’s also easier to see any obstacles as merely small bumps in the road instead of intimidating walls.
By overcoming negative thoughts and continuing pushing forward, you’ll fuel your child’s creativity much better and faster!
7. Make time to be creative
If your child wants to think creatively, they need to commit to it.
This means actually taking the time out of their days to try and get their minds running.
Creativity does not happen overnight. You can only improve it through time and effort.
Putting in the time for creative sessions can help a lot in becoming a creative thinker. It’s similar to studying for a test. If your child doesn’t take the time to study and revise, they won’t be ready to face the test.
Likewise, if they don’t consistently commit themselves to become a creative thinker, it will be harder for them to develop creative ideas when they need it.
Fuel your child’s creative thinking with Practicle!
Creative thinking will certainly help your child in preparing for their future.
But to truly become a creative thinker, they need to constantly practice it, even at home.
One possible solution is by having them learn math using Practicle, an online math learning game for primary school children.
The game’s math quests, including personalised word problems and PSLE questions, will challenge your child to become creative problem solvers!
Witness the game’s effectiveness yourself with our 7-day free trial today!