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Home › Articles › Development › Creative Babies

Creative Babies

Helping Children Learn to
Express Themselves

By Lisa Goldstein

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Read books. Sing and dance. Be creative yourself. When Birken's son was 9 months old, he began to take the cup they used to rinse his hair and fill it with water. He would then pour it on his rubber duck and then onto his hand. What seems common to parents is creative to a child who hasn't received instructions on the fundamentals of cups and their many uses, says Birken. Building on this, when her son was 10 months old, Birken added more cups to the tub with bubbles. He began experimenting with cups by putting bubbles on an upside down cup versus filling a cup with bubbles and water.

Taking this one step further, Birken filled a plastic storage bin with soap and water, cups, plastic fish and other objects. Her son played outdoors with the materials that stimulated and excited him during bath time. "Following children's natural interests and encouraging their exploration with positive language is a very important part of developing creativity," says Birken.

Follow Your Child's Lead
Creativity will develop automatically. Parents are right to be concerned about developing their children's creativity in this time of rote memorization and giving one right answer, says Roberta Golinkoff, co-author of Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Children Really Learn and Why They Should Play More and Memorize Less (Rodale Inc., 2003).

"But parents needn't stress about it," she says. "If they buy their kids toys that are 10 percent toy and 90 percent kid, they will be just fine!" That is, she says, don't offer toys that ask for specific response, but rather offer open-ended toys that encourage children to use their imaginations and can be used in a variety of ways. Joining along in make-believe play also can be cheap, fun and effective.


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