Raising a child is a difficult task. From the moment the baby is brought home from the hospital, you have to consider every need that the baby has to ensure that it is healthy and happy. As the child gets older, they learn new skills and take on more complicated tasks. All of this is directly related to how their development is going.

Social, emotional, mental, and physical development should be the top priorities of every parent. You want your child to learn how to interact with others, manage their emotions, expand their mind, and be healthy. Each aspect of health is important and can be achieved in various ways, but one particular subject can help with the development of all four categories…creativity.

Fostering creativity and curiosity within your child can provide huge benefits for their developmental process. It teaches them how to improvise, engage with others through shared activities, dive into their imagination, and unlock more of their brain. Since creativity matters, here are a few ideas for encouraging creativity in your children.

It Starts with the Nursery

The room that your baby will spend a lot of time in is the nursery. Some parents will just purchase the necessary furniture and storage and then call it a day. You should know that a baby is learning a lot from their environment in the first few years of life. Whatever surrounds them is information that they will take in. So if you put no effort into decorating a nursery, then you could be stunting the development of the child. If, however, you put a lot of thought into themes, colors, and extra elements for the design, then your baby will be in a better environment for their curiosity to swell and their imagination to develop. These qualities will manifest later as creativity.

Encourage Artistic Expression

Children love to work with their hands, whether that means drawing, painting, or playing in the sand. Providing ways for children to express themselves artistically will exercise that “creativity muscle.” A customizable felt board or wall is great for young children because you can create environments together using different felt pieces like animals or landscape features. Mount a drawing board on a play table or wall to give them a space to write or draw whatever they want. Play games like Pictionary or Charades that teach kids how to use images and actions to convey an idea. By collaborating with teacher assistants who’ve pursued teacher aide courses, they enable access to the curriculum, facilitate independent learning, and promote inclusion that encourages artistic expression. All of these strategies can help foster a creative side in your child.

Invite Them to Participate in Your Hobbies

Children want to please their parents, which means that they will often pick up interests that the parent has and want to do the same thing. This is a perfect opportunity to open up their creativity skills. Are you in love with scrapbooking? Let the kids come up with some page designs and picture layouts. Do you enjoy painting? Get your child a dry-erase board or easel so they can join you. Is cooking your passion? Invite your kids to help with some of the simpler tasks involved in making a meal. There are methods to invite your children into your hobbies the right way that doesn’t force them into doing something they have no interest in. But if they do have an interest, do not hesitate to bring them along and help those creative juices flow.

Let Them Take Ownership Within the Home

Making sure that your kids feel like they are a part of the home is crucial to their development. One great way to do this is by giving them some agency with how the house looks. Maybe you can choose a section of a room for them to have a little creative freedom to decide how it looks. This could result in something fun like a circle couch from the cushion foam store in your family room next to more expensive furniture. That is okay! It allows them to be creative and also feel more connected to their environment because they helped design it. Pick a small space, or even the playroom, where they will have a hand in its creation or layout decisions to engage their mind.

Creativity Breeds Growth

When a child’s mind is engaged through creativity, their overall development is supported. They can get involved in creative activities with others, improving their social skills. Their brain will develop as it learns new concepts and flexes itself to make something. Emotional development will also be affected as they discover how to translate information from past experiences into new creations. Physically, a healthy mind is very connected to a healthy body.

As you consider how to design your home and encourage a family lifestyle that allows for creativity, think of all the benefits that your child will experience. Design an engaging nursery, give them artistic outlets, participate in your favorite hobbies with them, and give them some creative agency in the home.