Creativity and Imagination

I was at a tradeshow recently put on by www.themompreneur.com.  I met a wonderful mom and fellow mompreneur.  Her name is Annette and she runs a Crock-A-Doodle franchise.  She was telling me how rewarding it is when she works with adult groups.  The adults are tentative at first when presented with a blank canvas and asked to create whatever they want.  She sees the hesitation turn to into pleasure as they let go of expectation and worry of being judged and just have fun!

She told me another story which made me both angry and sad.  Her young daughter was asked in school to create a picture using Spring colours.  Like any child, she used her imagination and chose purple.  Her teacher told her that purple wasn’t a Spring colour and sent a note home with her drawing.  Of course, her daughter was in tears.  I can’t imagine what that teacher was thinking!

In today’s achievement-oriented world, we often neglect the importance of imagination and creativity.  A child can express his real self in imaginative play.  Imagination integrates a child’s feelings and dreams and actions.  Children need to be given time to use their minds.  Too often, school teaches memorization and does not reward independent thought or creative input.  Then, when that child becomes a young adult, enters the workforce and is expected to think, they are ill equipped to do so.

We need to nurture these skills in the home.  TV, except in small doses, exposes children to an artificial world, numbing their own imaginative adventures. 

As adults, we may be a little rusty in the imagination department.  Sit down with your children and create a story.  Let one person start and then the next person continue until you have created a joint story!