Children are naturally curious about the world but not everyone develops a creative mindset from an early age. The truth is early experiences will often pave the way for young minds and early exposure to new people, ideas and experiences can help nurture a creative mindset for children. But isn’t a creative mindset something that only certain children are born with?
Not at all!
Creativity is a skill and one that can be exercised daily. It’s not something that we have but rather a cognitive skill that we develop over time. A creative mindset is also increasingly necessary in an increasingly busy world that requires people to be more resilient and adaptable. Let’s explore the role of a creative mindset for more resilience and adaptability.
The Role of a Creative Mindset for Children
People with a creative mindset are more open to possibilities and opportunities because the process requires innovative thinking. Developing a creative mindset helps individuals express themselves better, while embracing new ways in which to look at problems or indeed the world itself. It should go without saying that ever human regardless of age would benefit from a creative mindset!
However, given the strange times in which we live, a creative mindset is not only an advantage but also a necessity which helps develop a great sense of adaptability and resilience from an early age.
The Importance of Developing Resilience and Adaptability for Children
I mention these two traits because resilience and adaptability are increasingly necessary in our times. Resilient children can more quickly recover from problems or setbacks and use these experiences to bolster their confidence for when they happen again in the future. Meanwhile, adaptability expands the capacity children have for change and enables these youngsters to move from one activity to the next with ease. Such resilient children are likely to embrace new activities/ideas and display the kind of flexibility that helps them go with the flow.
We can also see how these traits are just as important in later life and this is especially true in the workplace. For example, increased incidences of burnout and mental health problems is a recent trend that causes big problems for employers. In fact, a recent study by Deloitte explored the extent of workplace burnout and discovered more than 70% of employees had experienced burnout in their current role. While the pressure of “always on” culture at a workplace is often to blame for the stress that leads to burnout, recent studies show a greater resilience among employees would allow them the confidence it takes to tackle such issues before they impede on their thinking/work/lives.
Research by IBM about the future of work also points to another rising trend - the need for creative problem solvers. Adaptability is the ability to adjust to new conditions and a prerequisite for creating solutions of any kind. It’s true, data analysis and number crunching are still as important as ever, but we need to be able to use them to make decisions. For these reasons, children need to develop critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity skills in order to normalize the process of wrapping a story around data, systems and the way things are done.
How to Nurture a Creative Mindset for Children
Most parents make a conscious effort to encourage their child to learn and even those seemingly small lessons can have a much greater impact than meets the eye. For instance, parents will often introduce their child to a new word which contributes to their reasoning, resilience, and responsibility - the 3 Rs. However, this also helps orient children toward problem solving skills in the real world and maybe encourage them to recognize more new words in their everyday life.
If you ever listened to Jim Rohn, you might also agree that we are somehow the average of the five people with whom we spend the most time. A similar principle can be applied to learning as when children engage with creative people or a creative environment, they are more likely to be exposed to new experiences and knowledge that will inevitably help nurture a creative mindset in the child.
But how can we be more specific with nurturing a creative mindset for children?
Enroll in Activities - While it’s rarely a bad idea to enroll children in an art class, all types of activities fall into the category for creativity. After all, creativity is expressed in many ways and photography, dance and music are just a few examples of outlets that can help inspire a creative mindset within a child. There’s literally a class, course, or group for every type of activity.
Organize Play Dates etc - Many children first learn to cooperate with others through play dates and group activities with other children. These experiences help nurture adaptability and spending time in the presence of others teaches children to consider the implications of what they say and do.
Inspire Creative Thought - Parents should take time to engage in conversations that require thinking and brainstorming. This might involve participation some form of activity but encouraging children to think is also something that happens spontaneously. For instance, many of the best lessons in life are found by asking children a rhetorical or thought-provoking question at the dinner table.
Encourage Risk Taking - Children need to know through experiences that it’s okay to make mistakes and taking risks is an important part of the process. We are living in precarious times when it sometimes feels unsafe to do anything at all but to help children embrace a brave new future, it’s essential to encourage their child to be bold and courageous when the need arises.
Get Them Outdoors - Spending time outdoors is proven to benefit mental and physical health regardless of age. However, there are also countless lessons to be learnt from nature and this is also the perfect way for children to start exploring the great wonder and possibilities in the world around them.
Final Thoughts
A creative mindset is hugely important for children and even the future of work depends on their ability to adapt and persevere. Creativity is also not a skill but rather something we learn and an environment that values creativity and problem solving Is sure to give children the best possible chance of developing a creative mindset that will at least orient them toward the right paths in life.
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