How to Encourage Your Child’s Creativity and Unleash the Creative Genius
Top 3 Tips to Unleashing the Creative Genius
Creativity is a huge part of your child’s development and education. Giving them an outlet increases their self-confidence, self-expression, and writing ability.
Some of the best things we can do to support our children's creative writing do not involve writing at all. Encourage your child to read more to pick up on patterns and techniques they can use in their writing.
You are the catalyst of your child's creativity. Model great reading and writing by working side-by-side with your child.
If you are a parent of a school-aged child, you know how gifted kids can be at telling stories. When their imagination is allowed to run wild, we get a glimpse into what true, unlimited creativity looks like. Yet often, that same creativity gets stifled and does not carry over in the same way to written form.
In my research to understand why this happens, I came across a study by Dr. George Land. In 1968, he devised a creativity test for NASA to measure the creative potential of their rocket scientists and engineers. The assessment was so surprising he decided to try it on 1,600 children between three-to-five years old. The results were so eye-opening he decided to test the same group of children as they grew up. The results were astounding.
The proportion of people who scored at the “Genius Level”, were:
98% amongst pre-schoolers (3-5yo)
30% amongst 10 year olds (grade school)
12% amongst 15 year olds (high school)
And 2% when the same test was given to 280,000 adults.
Read more about the creative genius study in this analysis prepared by Gavin Nascimento, Founder of aNewKindOfHuman.com.
Check out also Dr Land’s 2011 TedxTuscon talk The Failure of Success.
This is all really bad news. In order to keep up with the future of work, creativity is one of the most in-demand 21st Century skills. We all need to be able to come up with new solutions to new problems, especially against artificial intelligence. This is why we need “creative geniuses” (like our children!) leading the charge.
This is why I turned to Travis, a high school Creative Writing and English teacher who also spent time as an editor-in-chief for local magazines, literary journals, and newspapers. Travis has written in every medium including blogs, poetry, short stories, and the long form novel.
Here is his advice on how he helps his students to push themselves creatively in the written form.
“My job is to take the unbridled imagination of kids and teach them how to write stories that everyone can enjoy. If you want your child to put their great imagination to use, there are several ways to guide them in the right direction. These skills, once established, can continue to be built on over a lifetime of writing.”
Why do kids need to create in the first place?
The act of creating a unique piece of writing is one of the most beneficial activities a child can partake in.
When children use their imagination to inspire a well-constructed piece of writing, they not only become better writers, but they also practice critical thinking, problem-solving, and organization all while inspiring confidence in their abilities.
Yet, creative writing is often written off (excuse the terrible pun) as a flowery hobby that has little to no academic value nor respect in the work place. Elements of the story are often covered as a reading standard and writing is most often reserved for an explanation, summary, comparison, or analysis.
This is why practicing creativity is important. This act of writing provides an outlet for children to express themselves even if they are not sure how. Through their stories, children can contemplate their feelings and the situations that surround them in their daily life.
Creative writing provides a safe space for children to expand their thought and try new things without the fear of judgment.
So where and how do we start?
Three Tips to Improve Creativity through Writing
Tip #1 - Read, read, and read some more
Throughout my career as a creative writing teacher, there is consistently one factor that separates the students who are great writers from the students who are not-so-great writers.
The better writers read more. They read longer books, more difficult books, and they spend more time per day with their eyes glued to the page and their minds off in distant worlds.
Reading is the best way to see great writing in action. When we read, we …
take a masterclass in storytelling.
see how to present stories in a captivating way.
see techniques for writing specific scenes.
widen our vocabulary and,
through repetition, we internalize all of the details that separate a great story from a forgettable one.
If you want to help your child improve their writing, make sure that you are encouraging them to read. Add reading to your nightly routine. Gather the family together and spend time reading. Studies show that the best thing for a child’s reading interest is to see adults in their home reading for pleasure.
Tip #2 - Speculative Fiction
Speculative fiction is any story that your child writes that utilizes characters and settings from other stories that already exist. Speculative fiction provides a jumping-off point for your child to practice writing a full story with a well-developed plot, without having to spend the time creating a character and setting on their own.
Speculative fiction is also a great way to get your child interested in the first place. You can leverage their favorite shows, movies, and books to keep interest high.
Chances are, they are going to write a pretty great piece because they know how those characters interact already and what conflict can spark between them.
Have your child choose a story that they love. Ask them to write a sequel or an original story with those same characters. Be sure to encourage your child to stay true to the characters' qualities as they write. Watch as your child improves their writing stamina, their command of plot, and their understanding of the characters.
Tip # 3 - Start a Writing Journal
One of the most common issues that young writers struggle with is endurance. They have a great idea but lack the endurance to get it all on paper.
The only way to increase your writing endurance is to practice every day. Get a writing journal for your child and set a time every day where they will sit and write about whatever they want for the entire time.
Start small with 5 to 10-minute increments and work your way up every week. Emphasize to your child that you are not worried about the quality of their writing right now, just the quantity.
This is the easiest way to reduce feelings of writer's block in young writers. They will be more concerned with filling the page that they won't self-edit as they write. After a while, they will have an entire journal filled with ideas that they can later flesh out into a complete piece.
You can also make this a family activity by writing with your child during this time. Sit next to each other at the table and fill out your journal. Not only will this be therapeutic for you, but you will also be modeling great journal writing for your child.
Throughout my career, I have come across dozens of students who know they have creative thoughts but have no idea how to get them on paper. Supporting your child by providing practice for their writing will ensure they have the endurance and confidence to write with their entire being.
You will be impressed by what your child has to say when they are simply given the tools to be heard.
