Creative play goes far beyond being fun. It allows little ones to express themselves, helps them to cope with their feelings and often enables them to explore new ideas and learn through their curiosity.
These simple ideas will help to encourage and inspire their creativity, both at home and outdoors, this summer and what's even better is they shouldn't break the bank.
Whether you want to take a drive to a picturesque spot or just use your back garden, pop on your sunglasses and take a few moments to lay on the grass to stare up at the sky. The clouds can form all sorts of shapes so use your imagination and see what the clouds resemble. You could then extend this activity by making up a story based around what you spot, discussing the weather and drawing the water cycle or by trying this at night in the form of stargazing!
When you next take a trip to the park have a chat with your child about what they love the most there and what their favourite play equipment is. You could then get out some straws, Play-doh, lolly sticks etc and ask them to build it from memory or design a new climbing frame to see what they come up with. You can even use cardboard boxes and egg cartons, or anything else you find in the recycling, to save on buying craft materials.
Birthdays and special occasions are a great time to get creative. You can decorate your home in all sorts of pretty displays with plenty of resources like 4th of July clipart or Easter clipart being easily available online - they're perfect for making your own cards, invites and posters too. Paper alone can be made into lanterns, paper chains and pom poms. Take a peek at Pinterest for directions or ideas.
Lego, K'NEX and Magformers are great for creativity as those little pieces attach together with ease to build whatever your imagination desires. Set your child a task of designing something specific, whether that's a dream home, zoo or car and watch as they get busy building. If your little one has time for tech, you can always set them a project on the PC or games console - The Mini Mes often make theme parks and farms on Minecraft!
Take a different route to school or the shops and hand your camera over to the kids for the day - seeing the world through their eyes can be really interesting but it gives them the opportunity and freedom to capture whatever they are drawn to. You could ask them to photo shadows, reflections, certain colours or shapes and then enjoy talking about the photos, editing them and even printing them to frame when home.
Kids often like to pick out their own outfit for the day so why not take it a step further and let them make it too! Letting them design a t-shirt or piece of clothing will allow them to be creative with colours and patterns whilst being educational at the same time.
If you had a super power what would it be? Kids and adults alike may wonder what it's like to fly, to be invisible or to have the ability to teleport, so have fun as a family making a superhero of your own and designing their costume. You could even cut up old magazines to create a collage style picture from the different pieces. Don't forget to give it a name.
The next time you're going for a walk collect a couple of items, like sticks and blossom and make a masterpiece. Making a picture from what you find on your nature trail can be a lot more fun that using traditional pens and pencils with leaves being layered to form wings. You can also collect some stones to decorate and rehide for others to find the next time you return.
What activities do your children enjoy?
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