We’re not talking about playing Mozart to your bump, or buying stuff from Baby Einstein. Instead, as Patricia Forde, acclaimed author and Ireland’s seventh Laureate na nÓg, says, inspiring creativity in your children not only helps deal with summer cries of boredom, it can help inspire you too.
But I don’t have a creative bone in my body!
“Who told you that you didn’t?” Forde recalls asking an illustrator why they continued to draw after childhood. They answered: “Why did you stop?” So channel your own inner child. “Children model what they see. If they see you reading, writing, singing, dancing, pretending you’re an elephant with a toothache – they will want to imitate you.”
Sounds time-consuming
It is, in the beginning, but, Forde promises, “if you are successful, you’ll soon have self-starting children, full of ideas – and you can read your own book in peace.” Happily it doesn’t have to be expensive. “Mother nature is your best friend. Think about a sand sculpture on the beach to attract mermaids, build a home for a dragon in the garden or under the stairs, hunt for unicorns in the woods.” All free of charge.
What if I don’t live near a beach or forest?
“Sometimes we forget that small children find wonder in ordinary things. Go for a walk and look down. Acorns, leaves, shells and stones, a discarded shoe – who owned it? A walk can be boring, or full of adventure. Remember, there’s nothing to stop you depositing exciting things along a planned walking route,” says Forde. If you’re squeamish about having your kids pick weird stuff up off the pavement, you can always limit yourselves to pointing out and noticing.
Phew! What next?
Part of the essence of creativity lies in putting seemingly unconnected things together to come up with something new, another element is to do with expanding. “Children get excited about an idea and then just as quickly tire of it and revert to telling us they’re bored. This is where the adult can get involved,” says Forde. “Your child is playing tea parties with their dolls. It’s highly exciting – for about 20 minutes ...”
I have been that soldier
Exactly, so that’s where you come in with a couple of curious questions: “What if this were a tea party for monsters? What are the monster’s names? What would they eat? Let’s design a menu ...” Monsters, aliens or bears will all do the job. “Go wild!” advises Forde. “After that, you could go to the library and follow up with a book about monsters to read together.”
Now I’m getting excited myself!
That’s the point. If your kids are old enough for scissors, give them old magazines and get them to invent new creatures from different snippets. Then expand: “Ask them to write a poem about one of their creatures or a story. Give a prompt: None of the ordinary animals liked the Kangabear one little bit!” Soon they’ll be able to sustain themselves with their own imaginations for longer and longer periods. Plus you reap the rewards too. “Being creative has made everything about my life better,” says Forde. “I’ve been making it up as I go along all my life, and I heartily recommend it as a way of navigating the world.” As Laureate na nÓg, she’ll be sharing this message with children everywhere. “Being creative, making time to daydream and using their imaginations can only make this world a better place.”
