Indoor and Outdoor Activities That Inspire Kids
Kids are natural born explorers. They might not have the same energy as they did when they were toddlers, but kids still love to get creative and explore their surroundings.
Playing the mud, drawing on the walls or climbing to the tallest branches, it might not always be the best activity but it is one that interest them.
This blog post provides parents with 6 ideas inspire creativity in children with a focus on getting the whole family involved.
For more information, visit our Activities for Parents with Kids page.
6 ways to encourage your kids to be creative
We all know that kids need to be creative. Even if you have no artistic bone in your body (what's up with the dog wearing shades?), it's important for them to get their hands dirty and let their minds run wild, but how do you encourage this behavior?
Let’s dive into some ideas to keep your kids creative.
1. Encourage them to draw, paint, or doodle
Children who are creative are able to think in a non-linear fashion. No wonder they have an easier time solving complex problems than adults.
Research suggests* that parents can encourage kids to draw, paint, or doodle to be more creative and innovative thinkers later on in their life.
Discussed in one resource, it was noted that:
As a parent, you are probably aware of how fast your child can get bored. This is especially true for children who have grown up in the era of technology.
As such, one way to engage their creativity and imagination is by encouraging them to draw or doodle on paper.
Top Picture: Inside a Pomegranate Bottom Picture: A Swimming Pool
2. Give them a chance to show their work in public
Public doesn’t have to be at an art exhibit. It can be on a grandparents fridge, your fridge or a wall in the house. Perhaps on the sidewalk for all the dog walkers to see. See our post on sidewalk chalk paint.
Kids should have the opportunity to share their talents and skills with others. Even if they aren’t Rembrandt’s, their unique talents are special to them and as they show them to others, they are able to feel like they have accomplished something.
Don’t forget to praise them for their talents, even at a young age. This may sound trivial but encouraging the inexperience will light a fire that leads to wanting to achieve bigger and better.
One last caveat to this is to be sure not to criticize the talent at a young age. Instead of saying, “What is that?” Try phrases like, “Tell me about your drawing.”
This works really well when children are in the 3 - 5 year range and just starting out putting their shapes together into something coherent.
Fridge Magnets Painted by the Author's Children
3. Provide opportunities for creative expression through playtime and other activities
We have had a focus on drawing and doodling but there are other forms of creative expression. Have your children put on a play or dress up in costumes.
My youngest daughter loves the butterfly costume, my oldest daughter loves the princess costume and my son loves the astronaut costume. They don’t go together in my mind but when they all dress up, they put on a production.
The neighborhood kids have even joined in on the dress up party and all of them had a dance party in their mermaid, butterfly, princess, astronaut, fairy, dragon costumes.
That brings us to dance. Get a CD player and make it accessible to your kids. Teach them how to use it first but let them explore music. Let them dance and move to the different rhythms.
Another idea is to have a dance party with your kids. For many months we had a standing Saturday night dance party!! It was a blast and occasionally we blast the music and shake the hips. You can teach your kids your bad dance moves and they can try to imitate them. It will be great memories that your kids will talk about.
Why stop at the music and theatrics. Give the kids a ball, one gallon can and some rope in the back yard and see what they come up with. Kids are resilient and want to have fun - with little regard for their safety so make sure you watch them.
4. Create an environment that fosters creativity by making space for art supplies and being open-minded about what they create with those supplies
Designate a space for art supplies. Crayons, paints, moldable clay, chalk, scissors and different colored papers with glue, fabrics, anything really. I mean anything, peanut shells (any shell from a seed or nut), twigs and leaves, grass, nails and left over wood (yep, my oldest daughter used some scraps to make a pyramid).
Set the standard for creativity, in my mind the skies the limit.
Just recently my oldest daughter found an engineering activity book at the library (which is a great place to get creative ideas to do as a family).
She learned about pulleys and wanted to make a pulley system to lift a cup of rice. I made a pulley out of wood in the garage, and a stand to put it on, she followed the visual aids and put it all together with yarn. She spent the afternoon lifting different objects, adding bobbins for additional pulleys and testing her strength with different weights.
It was a great activity and a “toy” that she has come back to a few times since just to play with it.
Creativity doesn’t have to be something that hangs on the fridge, it can be a learning experience as well. Like an engineering book, a trip to a museum, the zoo or the beach.
Pulley System
5. Show your kids how you express your creativity (singing, dancing, writing) so they can see it's okay to be themselves and not worry about looking silly
As stated above, I built a pulley for my daughter. I love working with wood and it is something that I find joy in.
Find what you enjoy and engage your kids in that experience. Teach them that self expression is a great thing and that there are so many different ways to get creative and express creativity.
As they see you expressing your talents, that will embolden them to hone their creativity.
Kids may be critical but don’t let it get you down, they are just learning how to communicate in a way that isn’t offensive. They will be more likely to open up their creative mind if you show your talents. Make your home a harbor for creativity.
Flamingo by Author's Oldest Daughter, Paper Mache Bike by Julie Fernlund, Self Portrait by Author's Oldest Daughter at Age 5.
6. Make time for family projects together
Family projects can be many different things. We built a treehouse in the backyard, we have built birdhouses together, we have painted pictures together, even just danced.
Find multiple activities that interest everyone just a little bit and encourage everyone to start getting creative in one activity at a time.
Spend an afternoon and play it out to the end, until everyone has had their fill. In a couple weeks try another activity. See what activities are keepers and which ones you will not be doing again.
Allow everyone to take a turn getting the most from each activity. Talents will manifest themselves and the seed to grow new interests will be planted.
If you have a son like mine, it is hard for him to sit somewhere and draw/paint/sculpt/sit still...being active and running around with a ball could also be an activity.
The idea is to get everyone involved and learn something, teach something and enjoy something.
Resources:
*Srini Pillay, MDSrini Pillay, MD, 2016, The “Thinking” Benefits Of Doodling, Harvard Health Blog, Accessed March 15, 2021, The “Thinking” Benefits Of Doodling - Harvard Health Blog - Harvard Health Publishing