Issue #46: June, 2009

Foster Your Child’s Creativity!

Children are naturally creative. You can help them maintain and expand this creativity into adulthood.

There is a strong correlation between stress and creativity. The more stressed you or your child are the more difficult it is for you to solve problems. When you are relaxed, you can see creative solutions to problems you are facing. 

Creativity improves your child’s self-esteem, motivation and achievement. When you encourage your child to think creatively and independently, your child is likely to become

• interested in discovering things
• open to new ideas
• eager to work with others to explore ideas
• willing to work beyond lesson time at school to pursue an idea or finish an activity

As a result, their pace of learning, levels of achievement and self-esteem increase.

When you encourage creativity in your child, you are also helping your child become more resourceful. Resourceful children:

• have the ability to meet challenges in a variety of ways
• learn to trust their instincts and unique abilities
• acquire a positive attitude toward problem solving
• tap into the joys life has to offer

Children need responsive adults willing to nurture and stimulate their creativity. If you  encourage your child to be creative, you bestow a gift money cannot buy.

What To Do to Encourage Creativity:

• Encourage curiosity and seeking answers. Respond to your child's questions by saying, "I don't know. How could we find the answer?"
• Don't stifle and numb creativity with too many manufactured toys. Resist buying your child every accessory marketed with the latest movie. Let your child stretch his or her  imagination by finding dress and play props.
• Value varying ideas and opinions. Encourage brainstorming by saying: "Well, that sure is one way of looking at it," or "What a GOOD idea, I've never thought of that before.”
• Encourage exploration. Make specific, motivating comments, such as: "How interesting; you created a secret passage-way with the blocks."
• Stimulate imaginative, independent thought by posing questions. In projects, avoid telling your child exactly what to do. For instance, when you are working together to make a bird feeder say, "I wonder what would hold the cracked corn and sunflower seeds?"
• Resist perfectionism. Don't take over your child's project because you can do it better or faster. (Of course, you can!) Respect the learning process that takes place while a project is made.
• Encourage humor. Humor helps your child take joy in his or her creative intelligence. Laugh together often.
• Facilitate play; do not dictate it. Your child gets a big boost from your getting on the floor to play. During play follow your child's lead.
• Play make-believe games. Pretend that you are a monkey. Or pretend to be machines like a lawn mower, popcorn popper or leaf blower!
• Provide a safe place where your child can explore a variety of art materials and be messy. Offer recyclables such as paper and cardboard with crayons, chalk, markers, glue, stickers, finger-paint, clay etc.
• Make homemade instruments and put on a concert. Be accepting of all compositions. Make room for movement so your spirited child can show off grace and energy.
• Change the endings of well-known stories. "What is another way The Three Little Pigs could end?"

Unfortunately, “creativity killers” are commonplace in our schools and homes.

• Hovering over your child: Your child’s risk-taking and creativity will go underground and hide.
• Evaluating every activity: Your child will ignore the satisfaction with his or her own accomplishments.
• Rewarding every action: The excessive use of prizes deprives your child of the intrinsic pleasure of creative activity.
• Competing:  Putting your child in a win-lose situation, where only one person can come out on top discourages creativity.
• Over-controlling:  Constantly telling your child how to do things leaves your child feeling like originality is a mistake and any exploration a waste of time.
• Restricting choice: Telling your child which activities to engage in limits curiosity and can diminish creative passion
• Pressuring: Huge expectations for your child's performance can instill negative feelings for the subject or activity.

Make some time this week to explore a creative project with your child and just have fun!

For more information, see: 20 Ways to Encourage Children's Resourcefulness and Creativity by Karen Stephens and Creativity Killers: Discouraging Creativity in Children by Leslie Owen Wilson

Support Family Child Care and Reauthorize Child Care Legislation in the 111th Congress!

Many states fail to adequately protect the health, safety, and well-being of children in small family child care homes. About $12 billion in government funds are spent each year on child care subsidies—yet, the federal and state governments in many states have no idea about the condition of care they are funding.. Since 2002, Congress has failed to reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the primary federal funding stream for child care in the United States. Through CCDBG, states provide child care assistance for families AND fund child care quality initiatives, including training for child care providers, inspections, and background checks to ensure that providers do not have a criminal record.

We Can Do Better! Child Care Center standards are weak! Reauthorize CCDBG in the 111th Congress!

A recent NACCRRA report shows that child care standards and their enforcement across the country are appallingly low. NACCRRA reviewed, scored and ranked the child care center standards for the states, Washington, D.C., and the Department of Defense , based on whether state laws helped to keep children safe and learning. The findings are shocking—the report shows that not only is the bar for child care standards set low, inspections are not occurring with nearly enough frequency to monitor child care settings. The total possible score for each state is 150 points, but the average score is only 83 points, or 55%, -- the equivalent of an F in any classroom in America.

Bipartisan Leaders Launch Congressional Baby Caucus

To help ensure that infants and toddlers receive much needed attention by federal policy, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) formed a Congressional Baby Caucus in early May. The goal of the caucus is to create a forum to highlight the cross-cutting and cross-jurisdictional policy issues that affect the lives of infants, toddlers and their families and to educate members of Congress and their constituents about the role of federal policymaking in the healthy development of very young children.

Parent Central Express is the monthly e-newsletter of Parent Central, a program dedicated to helping parents access information on children's issues and resources on parenting. Parent Central is a program of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA).