Even though I rarely enter such contests, this question was near to my heart. Since I am a crafty person, I really wanted The Bear and Peanut's creative energies to be encouraged. Peanut is still too little to do much artistic endeavors with, but he is always attached to me. He sees me creating in the kitchen, choosing patterns to sew, cutting, sewing, etc. Seeing me create is a good first step.
Now, the Bear that is a whole other can of worms. From a very young age, we encouraged her:
To make her own fashion statements.
Whether she was just playing dress up, or picking out the fabrics for her own designs. We always are supportive of her fashion choices. (We only have 2 rules; her body must be covered when leaving the house, and socks and shoes must match for school days.)
We let her try using the tools you need for creating.
She took the above photo at 16 months old.
Now, at 4 and a half, I am teaching her the basics of sewing. She has her own working machine and tells people on a daily basis that she has it. She also has been exposed to paints starting at a ten months old. Sure, early on she was covered in more paint than the paper, but the experience of playing with different mediums was priceless. She also has many instruments to experiment with- keyboard, guitar, drums, shakers, etc. We encourage making "music," singing and dancing throughout our house. Many times when we are doing chores, we will pull up Pandora and let the music fill our house as we dance and pick up toys.
She is allowed to make a mess.
Now, at 4 and a half, I am teaching her the basics of sewing. She has her own working machine and tells people on a daily basis that she has it. She also has been exposed to paints starting at a ten months old. Sure, early on she was covered in more paint than the paper, but the experience of playing with different mediums was priceless. She also has many instruments to experiment with- keyboard, guitar, drums, shakers, etc. We encourage making "music," singing and dancing throughout our house. Many times when we are doing chores, we will pull up Pandora and let the music fill our house as we dance and pick up toys.
She is allowed to make a mess.
She may have to help clean up after, but she is allowed to make a mess while creating (in the above picture she is rolling out sugar cookie dough.) I don't know about others, but when I am in the throws of crafting/creating I am usually making a mess. She has to know that it is ok to make a mess if you clean up after. As you've seen in old blog posts, I have laid out paper and let her run through paint to create masterpieces. I am not afraid of a mess.
We encourage her to pretend.
In the above case she was sewing a dress for me with her pretend sewing machine. She is encouraged to create stories about how fairies leave mushroom umbrellas in our flower garden, make up songs about how she loves her brother, and dance around like a loon, by us joining in on her silliness, and games.
Last but not least, we include her in everything.
From gardening
To home construction, our kids are included so they can learn how to do any task. This also gives them a greater skill set to draw from for creating.
The Bear has a wonderfully creative mind, and I like to think how we raise her has something to do with her creativity.
From gardening
To home construction, our kids are included so they can learn how to do any task. This also gives them a greater skill set to draw from for creating. The Bear has a wonderfully creative mind, and I like to think how we raise her has something to do with her creativity.
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