Here is one of many articles The Creativity
Institute has reviewed and reprinted on nurturing and boosting
creativity in children. Among the articles you'll find on this
site are those that demonstrate the importance of creative environments
at early ages and the power of the right educational toys.
Play Is Serious Business For Children's Intelligence
by Jon Weaver
Too many parents consider play as simply a
means of diverting and distracting their children. Playthings
are often seen as a means of keeping children happy, rewarding
them, keeping them out of mischief, and giving parents free time.
Not often enough do parents think of play and
toys as fundamental aspects of a child's education, as a means
through which children learn to understand the world around them,
and as the primary method by which children acquire many basic
skills.
Parents can help make their children's play
stimulating by doing three things.
First, they can adopt an attitude of conscious,
deliberate planning in which play is regarded as one of the most
important aspects of their children's environment.
Second, they can see to it that their children
are provided with the kinds of toys and playthings that will help
develop the widest possible varieties of skills and abilities.
Third, they can assume a direct, participating
role in their children's play.
Planning a child's play does not mean planning
each activity for every moment of the child's playtime. On the
contrary, children should have maximum independence in choosing
their own activities. And, within the limits of the daily routine
of the home, a child should also choose the time for their activities,
as well as the duration of each. Good planning makes sure that
play is as varied and stimulating as possible.
A child should play at different times, with
friends, with parents, and by themselves. This play should include,
within a period of about a month, all or most of the following
types of activities, each geared to the age level of the child.
Here are 5 of them:
#1. Games
Games are perhaps the most basic of all forms
of play. From peek-a-boo to chess, from pat-a-cake to baseball,
games occupy a central role in the lives of most children from
infancy to adolescence. Games may be physical or mental. In general
they involve the development of skills, although some lead to
the acquisition of information.
#2. Arts and Crafts
Arts and crafts give children many opportunities
to express their desire to make things. Crayons, paints, clay,
construction paper, scissors and paste, wood, leather, felt, and
cardboard are among the materials that help children develop their
creative imaginative, and aesthetic abilities. Arts and crafts
also develop skills in manipulation, perception, and analysis.
#3. Construction Play
Construction play involves assembling objects
from what are usually prefabricated parts. It is less creative
than arts and crafts, but is also useful in developing many skills.
Putting together a set of railroad tracks and trains is a form
of construction play, as is play with erector sets, Tinker toys,
blocks and the like.
#4. Projective Play
Protective play is play in which a child adds
dramatic and emotional meaning to activities with representative
toys-dolls, trucks, soldiers, homemaking sets, and doctor kits.
Its great value lies in the role-playing done by the child rather
than in the development of specific skills.
#5. Hobbies
Hobbies that cannot be otherwise classified
will generally fall under the heading of collecting activities.
Collecting stamps, coins, rocks and minerals, butterflies and
insects, sea shells and leaves are all common and popular hobbies.
While some help in the development of certain skills, their greatest
value is in the considerable knowledge a child can acquire in
pursuing them.
Most play can be classified in one of these
five groups, and, ideally, play should include all of these types.
Also, as skills develop, the activities should move to a higher,
more mature level.
However, a child does not automatically vary
his play or develop in it. This is where the parent's planning
comes in -- continually making the child aware of the broad opportunities
available to him in play; initiating certain activities during
playtime; making suggestions when the child needs and wants them;
buying toys that will, in themselves, lead to new pursuits; stimulating
new interests and ideas in any of a variety of ways. The parent
should not manage the child's play, but should try to nudge it
in the right directions.
About The Author
Jon Weaver
FREE valuable information on Gifted Children
and raising IQ scores can be found here at All for Gifted Children.
Visit it today! http://www.AllForGiftedChildren.com
MORE ON CHILD CREATIVITY
Make
your child
more creative for life.
Every child has creative
ability just waiting to be tapped. Even infants have budding creative
potential. The right educational toys can bring it out. and let
children enjoy the benefits of creative pursuits at many levels.
Infants,
toddlers,
preschoolers,
early
school age and older
school age children all delight in opportunities for creative
expression through colors, shapes and sounds.
At The Creativity Institute, we handpick each infant educational
toy, every creative plaything, each piece of furniture and every
toy musical instrument based on its potential for developing vital
creative resources in your child.
Toy
pianos, oversized
foam building blocks, puppet
theaters and puppet stages and people
and animal hand puppets, art
supplies and children's
easels, play
tents and more. The scale and durability of many of these
toys make them perfect for classrooms, homeschool,
day care centers and waiting rooms, too. The benefits of nurturing
creativity can be profound, offering children tools for success
in all endeavors athletic, artistic or academic. Let your baby
begin now.