As good parents, we want our children to be happy and confident, to think creatively and to have positive self-esteem. How do we produce this? By focusing on process rather than on product.

How  Can We Encourage Children To Be Creative Thinkers?

1. Let them play and explore freely without being too helpful, hovering or dominating.

2. When they come up with an unusual idea or one that doesn’t fit  into our thinking, don’t judge them negatively. Be open-minded.

3. Allow them the time they need to think and explore all the possibilities. Creative thinking takes time.

4. Don’t focus on their mistakes or on what they produce. Focus on the process, on their effort, on their improvement and progress, on their enthusiasm and on their strengths and assets.

5. Don’t look for perfect results It’s too difficult if not impossible to measure up.

6. Don’t compare them to others.

When we respect children’s ideas and novel solutions, we encourage them to think for themselves, to explore, to risk, to solve problems, to learn, to be self-confident, to invent and create, and to build healthy self-esteem.

Anything you’d like to add? I’d love to hear from you.

photo credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/archetypefotografie/4422854500/”>Vincent_AF</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/”>cc</a>