How To Inspire Your Kids To Be Creative

Are we born creative? I think we are. I think children have a natural knack for creativity. Isn't it funny then, that when we grow up and become adults, we often turn to children for our own inspiration to be creative? I also think that sometimes children look to adults for some reassurance when exploring their creativity. 

What a great opportunity to teach and show your child how much fun it is to explore their imaginations and be creative. After all, it's not just nature that determines creativity, but nurture too. Think of it as being born with a spark that if nurtured, turns into a flame.

Why encourage your child to be creative? 

We know that creativity can be healing. It can be a soft place to fall when needed. And on a side-note, when I talk about creativity - from the standpoint of this blog in general - I'm usually referring to creativity in the arts, but creativity can be manifested across any discipline whether it be science, engineering, math, cooking, etc. For the sake of this article I'm not talking about creativity as pertaining to any specific discipline, but simply as the ability and the drive to think outside the box, use our imagination, and experiment with being innovative.

Here are just a few ways that you can help your child's creativity blossom.

1. Provide your child with art supplies and give them time to use them. They don't have to be expensive or fancy, or come from any special art store. Crayons, colored pencils, inexpensive watercolor paints and paint brushes, and some drawing pads are all great examples. As well as the supplies, make sure your child has some relaxing time set aside to explore these supplies. 

2. Offer encouragement and praise. Sometimes these two things can be just the thing that your child needs to boost his or her confidence level so that they are comfortable enough to show the world their talents.

3. Set an example. Show your child that it's fun to explore the world around them. If they see you doing something, they will most often want to join in. Remember, children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate! You don't have to be especially talented in any one area - it's your enthusiasm towards doing something interesting or new that you want them to witness.

4. Read to your child. Reading opens the imagination. Explore a wide variety of different types of books, making sure to try out new things and not always stick to the same theme.             

    

5. Spend time in nature. There's nothing more inspiring than the beauty of nature. 

6. Ease up. It's hard to create when you're under pressure. Give your kids space to be creative, and give them the freedom to create things the way they want to. Give your kids the freedom they need to be creative!

7. Offer your child age-appropriate colorful picture books by talented illustrators. Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals and Richard Scary's What Do People Do All Day are two of my very favorites. Both were a huge inspiration to me when I was little. Most libraries have these books. 

8. Take your kids to age-appropriate museums. Most museums have free or discount days, and many also have activities for kids. While museums may be a bit too much for small children (lots of walking, no touching, quiet environment) they're perfect for older kids.

There are so many ways that you can inspire your kids to be creative. Expose them to different types of art, books, music, try different types of food, explore different cultures, and watch their imaginations bloom. 

Give your children the freedom to explore and create on their own. Most importantly, encourage them without being pushy, and praise them without being overly critical. Best of luck in your creative adventures!

How do you help inspire your kids to be creative? In what ways do your kids inspire you to be creative?  Please leave a comment below!

Have a great week!

 Laura

My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs!

Learn how to solder and make unique jewelry!

Small Distractions: Scattered Wastes of Time or Essential Creative Excursions?

I've been thinking. (hehe - really!) I've been thinking about the small - - and sometimes not so small -  - excursions that we artists often take when exploring our creativity and artistic skills and knowledge. Side projects. New ventures. Big ideas. 

Are these mini road trips of imagination and creative exploration sidetracking us and doing more harm than good? Do they impede the bigger picture, or do they lend to it? 

One of my favorite sayings is, "Don't major in minor things." I've always considered these words of advice to be an essential truth. Focus on the bigger picture, keep your eye on the ball, don't be distracted by smaller, insignificant things. Seek out the essence and hold tight to that vision! Don't stray from the path! 

I believe all of these things to be true. As a matter of fact, I grew up with this mindset subliminally repeated to me every day of my childhood life when I would run into my father's den and on the wall next to his desk attached to a large bulletin board was a small 5 x 7" framed light blue index card with dark red metallic sticker letters (made from the same sticker material as the classic gold stars that teachers used to stick on spelling tests) that in all caps read, 

"IS WHAT I AM DOING GETTING ME CLOSER TO MY OBJECTIVE?" 

It's weird thinking about it now, but as a child I read that little sign nearly every day of my life. And I remember back to the time when I was so young that I could read it, but I didn't know what it meant. For real. But it was there on the wall, in my father's den, next to his giant desk, with shiny red letters, and in a frame, so it must have been very important. 

Fast-forward a few years and again the words played within my head, turning and becoming more comfortable -  - they began to shape into an idea and began to make sense. Dad must have some pretty important things to do, I remember thinking. And, what exactly did OBJECTIVE mean? 

By the time that I was old enough to understand what the sentence meant, I figured that dad simply liked to use that saying as a daily reminder to not procrastinate. But no. I read it again. Not procrastinate, but more to stay on task. I had solved the mystery. Dad got sidetracked. So did I! I guess I was my father's daughter after all. You know what they say: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. 

I'll admit it, I don't just multi-task, I take it to a whole new level. Between designing and creating all the jewelry for my Dishfunctional Designs jewelry shop, maintaining this blog, writing design books and thinking up new tutorials for print and video, as well as being a single mom to two girls and taking care of all of the workings of a household single-handedly, my hands are full. But...I'm currently studying Natural History Illustration through Newcastle University AU through a distance course, and I've gotten bitten by the illustration bug...which has led me to now experimenting with designing and creating my first collection of clothing and home decor featuring my artwork. 

All of those things are parts of what I do, and all of those things help with the directions that I want my career to travel. But what about other, small excursions of creativity? How can you tell whether something is going to be a useful addition to your career aspirations, or just a waste of time, effort, and maybe even a waste of money?

Years ago after every busy holiday season of producing and selling jewelry I used to get excited for January to roll around. This is when I would take a mini vacation - a few weeks "off" where I would often pursue a completely new craft or jewelry venture. One year (2006 to be exact) I bought a small tabletop kiln and all the supplies needed to do basic powdered glass enameling. I bought loads of silver heart charms (the type that you would attach to a charm bracelet) and I enameled them. Some I even painted after they were enameled. To paint on them, I had to use a magnifying glass. And of course to do this I needed special enamel paints and the finest (smallest) brushes possible... 

Heart charm that I enameled and painted (shown enlarged. actual size: 1/2") 2006

Silver spoon bracelet with heart charm that I enameled and painted 2006

...So I painstakingly made a batch of these little hearts, attached them to bracelets and sold them. But they just weren't my thing. I spent a lot of money on the kiln combined with all of the enameling supplies, the paints and brushes - and the time that I invested. That was the biggest loss. The trial and error, the uglies that got tossed somewhere in a box to be forgotten... I am glad I bought the kiln, and I've been thinking about pulling it out again this winter to play with again, but I regret investing so much of myself, my time, and my money into something that had so little return to me both artistically and financially. But those are the breaks. That is what we risk when we try something new.  

By all means, experiment. Try new things. It will open your mind to new possibilities and it will help you to expand your creativity. You will learn new skills and techniques. But sometimes it can be like buying home exercise equipment: the world is filled with good intentions. 

Before you invest (both money and time) think long and hard about what your goal is. What is it that you want to learn from what you are going to do? How will you use that newfound knowledge to further your main objective? There's that word! Objective!

On one hand, I believe part of my success has been my willingness to experiment and try new things. Those who know me know that I don't give up on things easily. To be successful you must be focused, and have a concrete goal to work towards. You must be motivated and have the drive to direct yourself towards that goal. And you must be open to constant learning and self-improvement. And maybe even most importantly, you must be willing and able to fail. To pick yourself back up, dust yourself off, give it another go, and maybe even have the courage to change direction.

Think about these things: What good is a random project? To what degree will you execute it? (read: how much are you going to get into this?) How will it benefit you? How will it benefit your career ambitions? And maybe even most importantly: Will doing this random project keep you away from what you are supposed to be doing?

Is what you are doing getting you closer to your objective?

What random projects have you done? How have they helped you? Have you done any that turned out to be a waste of time? Any that had surprising benifits? Leave me a comment below!

Have a great week!
Love,

 Laura

My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs

article and images ©Laura Beth Love 2016 all rights reserved

10 Ways To Be A Creative Thinker: Perspective Is Everything

Some see trash, I see treasure 

What is creative thinking? 

How do creative people come up with their clever, innovative ideas? 

How can I be a creative thinker? 

Is creativity a gift? Do some folks have it and others not? Why does it seem that some people seem to have a constant flow of innovative ideas while others seem to struggle to come up with one original idea? If you've ever wondered about any of the above questions, read on for my 10 tips and suggestions to help boost your own creative thinking.


10 Ways To Boost Your Creativity 

1. Perspective is Everything. 
Creative people are open-minded. They give themselves permission to stray from a straight and narrow line of human thought and branch out into uncharted territories. They train their minds to look at things (whether it be materials or situations) from a variety of different perspectives. Be open minded. Practice seeing things from different points of view.

2. Develop Patience.
Creative thinkers don't quickly rush to find a solution or an answer to a problem. They patiently consider different options and give equal weight to different possibilities. They give themselves the gift of time to weigh out different options (they give themselves time to consider different perspectives, as in #1 above!) 

3. Be Optimistic.
An optimistic mind is an open mind. It's also a positive mind. Besides helping to boost creativity, being optimistic is good for your health. If you tend to be a negative thinker, banishing negative thoughts from your mind can take some time and practice, but you can do it! 
When you feel a negative thought coming into your mind, recognize it for what it is, label it as a negative thought, and then replace that negative thought with a positive one. Make yourself get into the habit of doing this and after a while it will become second nature. A well-balanced, optimistic, open mind is more welcoming to new and different ideas than a negative, closed mind. Make sense?

4. Be Grateful. 
Gratitude is directly related to optimism. When you slow down and relax your body and mind and open yourself up to feelings of gratitude, anxieties disappear and the mind becomes a clean slate. What are you grateful for? Make a list. Better yet, start a gratitude journal. Every day write down something that you are grateful for. Review your list constantly.

5. Read.
Read! Explore other worlds through reading books. Reading not only helps boost your creativity by opening your mind to new worlds, but it also helps expand your vocabulary, stimulates your brain, and makes you smart. Reading also helps develop concentration and focus, not to mention it's just plain awesome. 

6. Teach yourself to relax.
When life gets busy we tend to get stressed out. Do you know how to relax? Always know that you have the power to comfort yourself. Everything you need is already inside of you. Be confident in your abilities to comfort and relax yourself. Once you realize that you have this amazing power, use it frequently! Even the simplest exercise - such as deep breathing - is a powerful tool that YOU own. Use it! I find that my own creativity blossoms when I am relaxed.

7. Believe in your personal magic. 
Every single person in the world has their own special magic. I think that lots of people get so caught up in day to day life that they either ignore their magic or they never take the time to foster it and allow it to grow and blossom. Or maybe they have allowed pessimism and negativity to bury their magic so deep down inside of themselves that it remains hidden. What talents do you posses? How can you use your talents to help other people? Find those talents and use them for good. Help other people live better lives.  

8. Play.
Play games, listen to music, play with your children, play with hobbies and things that are fun and bring you joy. Imaginative play and games that require you to think and use your imagination are great ways to get the gears in your brain moving and spark your creativity. Know how to have fun! I love to play games!

9. Know who you are. 
Spend as much time as you can surrounded by nature and without distractions. Leave the phone at home. Listen to the sound of your footsteps on a woodsy trail. Look around at all of the colors and shapes of life. Use all of your senses to take it all inside of you. Just as there are rocks beneath your feet and trees around you, realize that you are a part of all of that life. Just as you look at a tree and take in an impression of that tree, realize that all that you say and do to other people is your own legacy. Make it a good one. 

10. Give.
This is one of my personal favorites. Give. Share your ideas. Give them away. I firmly believe that it is in the process of giving away what we know that allows us to be open to receive more, brand new ideas. Some people think of ideas or creative ideas as being sacred secrets  - what I mean by this is that they think they have some sort of secret formula that they need to keep hidden to themselves and that that is their power, when in actuality the opposite is true. It is in giving away that you increase your power. It is in giving away that you make room for brand new ideas. By helping other people you are releasing goodness into the world that will come back to you twofold. Give! 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, so be sure to leave a comment below!

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I hope you have a creative week! 
Laura

My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs!

Learn how to solder and make unique jewelry!

article and images ©Laura Beth Love 2016