Encouraging creativity

[Nes]

My little charge didn't come by today (mom had a rough weekend & took the day off work) but I was thinking about something else that has been troubling me.

She LOVES to do arts & crafts but she always copies exactly what I'm doing or follows the directs to the letter; and maybe that's just her personality.
(I'm sure there are quite a few parents/care-givers out there that wouldn't mind a little instruction-following in their own kids )

But I'm always pushing her to be more creative, like "cats can be orange with pink spots if you like!" and she says "no I want them to be the right colour ".

I just find that so sad in a little kid!

And maybe it's because her they own horses/rent a home/barn that she's used to following very strict instructions (or else could get seriously injured) from a young age?

We do allot of just drawing time as well as more structured arts & crafts, but any suggestions?

I did win out a little last week & got her to paint some dinosaurs pink .

[Xero]

It could be just a different way of thinking, but I don't see anything at all wrong with that.... :/

I was the exact same way as a kid. I did a lot of drawing, I've always been fairly artistic. I felt like I did a better job if I got the colors right when I was coloring a picture of things like an animal or a scenery. But a flower, for instance, can be any color you want it to. Just because you don't put pink polka dots on a cat (which, I think its kind of admirable of her to be realistic and accurate like that) does NOT mean you are not creative. I don't understand how her being raised around a barn has anything to do with why she wont color a cat the wrong color. Maybe its just because, she probably HAS cats, and KNOWS what color they are. There's nothing wrong with that. Like I said, I was that way, and trust me I still had a vast imagination and I was very artistic and it didn't hinder me in any way. Sure, a drawing can look any way you want it to, but I always preferred it to look the way it was supposed to look. If I colored it the wrong color - it felt like I was doing it wrong. I'm sure its just the way she is. And there's no reason to push her to be something else.

I'd also like to add that I grew up in a house in the city/apartments in the city. The only time I ever saw barn animals was if I went on a field trip.

[Nes]

Yeah I think you're right, I just hate when she copies what I'm doing because I feel like I'm overly influencing her when I want her to be independently choosing what to do (does that make sense at all?).

I meant, she's around horses all the time so follows instructions VERY well because she knows (and it's been drilled into her) if she doesn't she could get hurt. For example: it's not a good idea to walk underneath a horse - something little kids frequently try to do. Does that make more sense?

She's hilariously good at picking out males from females , she picked up a bunch of Lucas' dinosaurs the other day and turned them over, apparently they are all female .

Maybe the cats were a bad example - we could be colouring flowers or snowflakes or something instead and she always wants to know what colour they are supposed to be or she'll get really upset if she doesn't get the instructions exactly right (were we doing paper tube animals). I'm just trying to teach her, with art, you can do whatever you want & it's not wrong :S.

[Xero]

Yes, that makes sense too. There's nothing wrong with thinking outside the box.

[mom2many]

Vanna is that way and sam was to. They both could/do sit for hours coloring and drawing and Vanna is very good for her age, Sam's pretty good but she doesn't think she is. Anyhoo Vanna likes everything to be just right and rarely thinks outide the box, only recently I have noticed her trying different things. I think some kids are just nautrally more caefree in thier art work and other kids prefer a set idea of what it should be like.

I would just keep encouraging her.

[Nes]

Well it's a mutt point anyway Today she made two wonderful, well I have no idea what they ares.

It may have been a comfort level thing, or maybe my encouragement finally rubbed off on her. It's hard when they aren't your own kids

[yhmspy]

I found something interesting in a book about creativity education that I recently read. It's called the creativity check list:

1. Creative individuals have a great deal of energy, but they are also often quiet and at rest.

2. Creative individuals tend to be smart and naive at the same time.

3. Creative individuals have a combination of playfulness and discipline, or responsiibility and irresponsibility.

4. Creative individuals alternate between imagination and fantasy at one end and a rooted sense of reality at the other.

5. Creative people seem to harbor opposite tendencies on the continuum between extroversion and introversion.

6. Creative individuals are remarkably humble and proud at the same time.

7. Creative individuals to a certain extent escape rigid gender role stereotyping and have a tendency toward androgyny.

8. Generally, creative people are thought to be rebellious and independent.

9. Most creative persons are passionate about their work, yet they can be extremely objective about it as well.

10. The openness and sensitivity of creative individuals often expose them to suffering pain yet also a great deal of enjoyment.

Source:
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: Harper Collins.

[yhmspy]

Beside being a mom, i'm also a part time music teacher in a primary school. I think creativity is a subject that's so neglected in schools nowadays.

***MOD REMOVED LINK TO BLOG***

[Choppy]

I wouldn't be too concerned about this. Sometimes the child's goal with art is to master the skills of depicting an accurate representation of reality. They will aim to get colours correct and draw items in proportion, with proper persepctive.

Interstingly, when young children draw adults, they tend to draw exceptionally long legs. However, from the perspective of two feet off the ground, this is what a typical adult looks like.

Something else to keep in mind is the difference between creative thought and rational thought and that the two are indpendent. One can be both creative and rational at the same time. The child in question is refusing irrational ideas, but that doesn't mean she can't be creative.

If you want to encourage creative thinking, one idea might be to come up with some problems that require creative solutions. How could you improve a product, so it will appeal to more people? So it will cause less environmental harm? What will the world look like 20 years in the future? If you were trapped on a deserted island, what would you do to survive?

[Xero]

yhmspy - Thank you for posting, but this thread has a last post date from january. We try not to post in any threads with a last post date older than 30 days. Its just because we don't want to bump dead threads, you know? Its okay most of us have done it when we first started. Just keep an eye on that please.

Also, please do not pimp your blog here as we do not allow site linking especially in a spammy way (like for personal gain). I deleted it from your post. Please take a peek at our forum guidelines before continuing to post:

http://www.parentingforums.org/f17/r...ting-7179.html