Creativity

I have almost finished reading a book which I bought primarily for inspiration, it has provided it but not in the way I thought it would.  I often read on blogs wonderful crafty type activities that are going on, none of which have ever been tried here.  At first it made me feel inadequate that we were not creative in our house and I was in some way depriving my children.

In the past I have rarely sat with the children and engaged in some activity that could be described as craft.  This is mostly due to the fact that I had hit a wall with my eldest, he hates anything which is tactile such as painting, glue, playdough, clay and the like.  He loves to draw and does so most days but when he was little I struggled with what else to offer and do with him.  My youngest on the other hand loves to do anything which involves paint, glue, glitter, stickers, clay, paper, pens you name it she will give it a try.

I have been pondering our weekly rhythm recently trying to work out what to include, I really wanted to include a specific time for craft, that is not to say that we will only do it at that time in any given week but that I will set up activities on that morning and see what happens.  I have also been pondering what to do in that time as my children had very different needs and wants.  I know that I could borrow books from the library or browse the Internet and find a plethora of activities to offer my youngest but what to offer my eldest and was I failing him if I didn't offer him as much?

So as part of my research I have been reading about activities we could do and hoped that The Artist's Way for Parents would give me some ideas but it is not that kind of book.  What it has given me is a strong sense that there are more ways to cultivate creativity in your children than providing some paper and glue.  That of course is part of it, but it is so much more and that more is already a big part of our lives.  We listen to a wide variety of music both recorded and live, we have a good rhythm to our lives, we spend a large amount of time outside each week, we live in an uncluttered house where everything has its place, we read lots of books together and alone, these are all things that this book suggests that you could put into place to assist with cultivating creativity.  The author suggests that you allow your children to try everything, that you provide the tools to do this and they will find the things that they are good at and want to do more of.   So now I need to decide what it is I provide for them to try, I don't want to end up with a house full of stuff that only gets used once or spend money on classes that they don't want to attend it is about finding the balance.

I am feeling more positive about it now.  I am no longer coveting the lovely things on other blogs that my children are not making.  We need to do what is right for us, for each of us as individuals and whatever that is I hope to find out!