There is good reason to argue that a person's creativity will reach its ultimate peak just before the age of six and that while adults may become more imaginative and better able to express their creativity, no one can be as creative as a 5-year-old. That's because the five-year-old doesn't have formal schooling which for all its many benefits, has the drawback (and advantage) of instituting rigidity and conformity. A five-year-old's imagination isn't held back by realities. Theirs is still a world populated by magic and mysteries. For a five-year-old, just about anything can happen, and how well they hold onto that and how broad their creativity can get is something you can help by fostering their innate creative development.
When we say foster creative development, what we mean is providing your child with the tools and affirmation they need to take their creative play to new levels of creative development. The following is a look at some easy yet effective ways to encourage and foster creative development in your preschooler:
How To Foster Creative Development in Your Preschooler
- Playdough! If there is one toy that we think every child should have, it is play dough. Playdough is a fantastic tool because it can be crafted into anything. But if your child is having problems getting started, you can help foster their creative development by providing cookie cutters. Cookie cutters make it easy for them to get an animal shape or something similar out, after which they can add-on to the creations.
- Encourage experimentation with everyday objects. You eat with a spoon but what else can be done with a spoon? A great way to spur creative development is to encourage your child to take everyday objects and do something different with them. Spend an afternoon collecting leaves and then have your child dip them in paint to make unique art with them. Give them an empty cardboard box and see what they can transform it into. The next time they take something and use it in a different way or to create something new, praise and affirm their creativity. Doing so is a fantastic way to expand their thought process and get them to better explore the world around them.
- Spend time on costume play. Dressing up in costumes and role-playing different people and careers is a fantastic method of creative development. This type of role-playing gets your child to experiment with different people and help them learn how to better communicate and understand not only the world around themselves, but also their own personality. Having them act out different roles helps expand their vocabulary as they learn different words and phrases related to the world they are pretending to be in.
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