inyour opinion
W
e have a plush green
rug in front of a
window where we
plant ourselves to
think and play creatively. –
Helena
W
e have a creativity corner
with crayons, colourful pens,
paint, play dough, scratch
paper, blocks and more.
There, our daughter can do her magic,
creating messy arts, castles, buildings –
anything she likes. –
Eunice
T
urn off the
TV! –
Jo
W
e recycle, which has a
dual purpose: helping
the environment and
boosting creativity!
The recycling bag never fails to
deliver an impromptu arts and crafts
activity. Cardboard egg carton
caterpillars are the best! –
Laura
W
e create a “team story.”
The first person starts with
“
Once upon a time ...”
Then the next person will
take the story where they want it to go,
and so on, one sentence at a time. –
Bal
W
e limit time watching TV, playing with the iPad and so forth:
nothing during the week apart from homework-related use, and
only a few hours on weekends. This forces the kids to become
creative in order to entertain themselves. Once they’ve stopped
complaining about being bored, they will put on dance shows, paint, cut out
paper figures or pretend to be away on great adventures. –
Andreas
W
emake cards together
for all the birthday
parties my daughter
goes to. My daughter
loves doing it withme, it saves us money
on cards and – hopefully – creates a
more ameaningful gift. –
Katie
W
e have two low drawers filled with bits and bobs that my daughters
can access whenever they want to be creative. Having the drawers
at a low level, they can go and get what they want, whenever they
have the urge, so they have the fun of making and creating without
being prompted. –
Pamela
M
y boys love drawing, so I have a large, low table with pens and
paper out all the time so they can draw whenever they feel like
it. I often wake to find them producing a new masterpiece in the
morning. We also have a large box of cardboard tubes, boxes and
recycling materials that they can use to make rockets and robots
. –
Jo
M
y son’s painting paper
covers one of the
walls in our sitting
room.
–
Jo Jo
W
e spray shaving foam on
a plastic table, mixing
different colours into it
and making a colourful
mess. Sometimes we tape a large piece
of paper to the floor, then squirt different
colours of paint on it and let little hands
and feet explore. –
Dawn
W
e stopped buying toys two years ago when the kids were two and
five. Instead, we stock up on “trash” and natural treasures from
hikes and beach visits. This, coupled with lots of unstructured time,
has birthed the most creative moments for our children. Bored kids
make creative kids! –
Katherine
O
ur four-year-old son has a
plastic bucket in his room
where he collects twigs,
stems, leaves, branches,
dried plants, acorns, pine cones, and
other natural bits and pieces. He uses
his collection for play, and, so far, he’s
created a bow and arrow, a microphone
that he sings into, and a medical kit
made from leaves.
–
Sahana
W
e don’t have any
electronic devices at
home, so the kids become
very creative to entertain
themselves. Yesterday they made a
cave system from dining room chairs
and blankets, and spent the afternoon
tunnelling for treasure.
–
Kathryn
I
givemy kids the boxes and packages I
used to throwaway after unpackingmy
grocery shopping. A big box becomes
a garage for their toy cars; a plastic dish
may lead to pretending to be awaiter or a
cook. The ideas are unlimited. –
G
20
Playtimes