I
’
m so lucky to have grown up with parents who encouraged all of my creative pursuits,
no matter how ridiculous they must have seemed at the time.
Ballet lessons
?
Sure!
Gymnastics classes? Why not? While gently cautioning me that – at a foot taller and probably
20
pounds heavier than my little contemporaries – I was unlikely to carve out a career in either one,
lessons and attempts were
always encouraged
.
And when I found my way into the (slightly)
more sensible musical theatre genre, my parents came to
every performance
,
cheering me
on the whole time. I don’t think they even blinked when I announced that I’d be studying theatre at
university, though I might have heard a sigh of relief when I switched to the (slightly) more stable and
lucrative field of journalism.
Academics are incredibly important, for sure. But so is the opportunity
to be creative
.
To
think. To imagine. To explore. To dream. To create, often with no goal in mind. To that end, this month
we’ve brought stories that will help you encourage your kids in their creative pursuits. Do you have a
budding ballerina or danseur (that’s a male ballet dancer, which I learned from this issue!) at home?
You’ll learn about the different types of ballet classes on offer here in Hong Kong. Does your little one
show an interest in learning to play a
musical instrument
?
Read on for advice on getting
started. And how about making time and room for some unstructured, messy play? Look inside for
tips on getting your hands dirty to encourage your kids’ developing
imagination
and creativity.
In a city as competitive as this one, it’s easy to get side-tracked, allowing room in your child’s
life for only those things that will help her get into the pre-school of your choice or look good on
his academic record. But I’m optimistic that there’s still room for creativity. Indeed, it might just be
during one of those unstructured moments of
free thinking
that your child comes up with the
blockbuster idea that will wow us all.
Thanks for reading,
Tracey Starr, Editor-in-Chief
welcome
Tracey, tiny dancer, circa 1978.
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