Do you want to foster and spark creativity and imagination in your grandchildren? Imagination is a great thing for all of us, but especially children. It leads them into creative ways to see the world, adventures they may one day take in real life, and possibly even a new solution to a human problem. Creativity, imagination, and innovation all go hand-in-hand and are to be encouraged among our youngest family members. Who knows? Maybe one of our grands will be the next inventor of the century!
Fostering creativity and imagination doesn’t take much more than a little time and energy on our part. We can watch our grandchildren for interests and build on them. We can read stories and act them out. We can build tents around furniture and tell stories while pretending to be camping. We can get art kits and let them go to town.
I keep a small supply of art supplies in my office. At times when the grands have been present in the building and didn’t have anything to do, there have been opportunities for them to get creative. It may make for a bit of a mess and it's definitely not typical office gear, but it provides an opportunity for creativity. One grandson sat down and drew an entire scene with color across every square inch of the paper while I was at work at my desk. We chatted a bit while we both worked and I was thrilled when he showed me his work. It’s in my office today!
One thing that comes to mind in my own past, is the regular reading time my late grade school teachers had with our classes. It was a quiet time during the school day, but by reading chapter books regularly, my teachers inspired us to imagine the scenes and characters being described in the story. I distinctly remember that as a point where I began to envision stories in my head. So much better than simply relying on a video to tell the story. One thing I would not have thought of then, but would be an interesting experiment. If each child could be asked about how they envisioned the characters, settings, and situations in the story, I would guess the variety would be astounding. Therein lies the beauty of the human imagination.
Here’s a little exercise for you: think of three separate creativity or imagination-sparking activities and test them with your grands. They might be as simple as finding a great story to read over time or as complex as teaching an art or craft skill you have. Maybe go to a beach and do sand sculpture. Find a project that requires some imagination and ask big or crazy questions while doing the project. If you read a story, ask each grandchild to draw their favorite character or scene and see how they interpret what you’ve read to them. Watch them with delight or laugh as they imagine some new angles to what they are doing. Listen carefully to their answers and build on them.
Don’t be afraid to brush off ideas from your own childhood experiences and coax your grands away from their tablets and phones. Yes, digital and video have taken over the interests and time of our children today, but with a little coaxing, we can draw them into experiences they will discover to be enjoyable.