Fall is such a colorful time of year. The leaves turn into a kaleidoscope of oranges, yellows, and reds. The fragrance of pumpkin spice is everywhere, and many people enjoy creating crafts to celebrate the season. Why not use the season as an inspiration to make crafts with your kids as a way to encourage creativity in children?
There are lots of great reasons to encourage your child to be creative, here are some of the best ones.
Crafts Encourage Togetherness
One of the best reasons to create crafts with your children is to spend quality time with them. Working parents may find crafting to be an enjoyable bonding experience. Did you know that one-third of children, or roughly 6.7 million, are cared for by a non-family member? This statistic includes almost 5 million children enrolled in a daycare center or preschool facility.
Creating things together can help bridge that gap created by your time apart. You’ll draw closer together as you and your child work together on crafts at the end of the day. Some of the crafts you can make can be part of a unique shared experience.
From baking to painting, there are plenty of ways to encourage creativity in children of all ages. Why not try making pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies with your 6-year-old or concocting a homemade facial mask with your 11-year-old?
Crafts Provide Education
Another reason to encourage creativity in children is that crafts are educational. Creating crafts with your children does more for them than simply giving you something cute to hang on your wall. Children who learn art skills are five times less likely to become school dropouts.
Primary school students can reinforce their knowledge of numbers and colors when doing the counting and measuring needed for making a craft. Children struggling with reading skills can gain practice by reading the directions to a craft. Without realizing it, kids will absorb skills, which can lead to seeing a project as a series of steps.
You can also use a craft as an educational opportunity by combining a lesson with a craft. For example, you can glue acorns and pinecones to a Styrofoam circle to create a wreath for your front door, during a lesson with an autumn theme.
Crafts Boost Mental Health
When you encourage creativity in children, it gives them a boost of self-esteem. Creating something and then displaying it provides a considerable dose of self-appreciation for your children. When your child makes a craft, it also encourages self-expression and creativity. The tactile sensations included in crafting can bring them in touch with their feelings. If the project takes time, your kids can learn patience. As they pour their energies into your current project, they’ll find a resource to use in the future when they need to relieve stress.
Suppose they make a mistake during the creative process. In that case, you can encourage them to persist in finishing the project allowing them to acquire resilience. With imagination, you can make a craft highlighting their personal design choices like with emoji pumpkins!
Crafts Contribute to Celebration
If you’re planning a fall celebration, you and your child can make the decorations for your home this year. They can also make placemats or centerpieces for the party. Imagine how much fun it would be for your child to show off their decorations during the party. It might be fun for you to make pumpkin centerpieces using bright orange mums shaped into pumpkins for the party.
You can use crafts as part of a lesson or a family activity. Children aged three and up learn about real life by using pretend and playing games. For example, you can make festive fall flower crowns and take it one step further by playing pretend together afterward. They’re fun to make, and the whole experience can be a dramatic play opportunity.
Final Thoughts pn Reasons to Encourage Creativity in Children
Seeing a finished design emerge from what began as a pile of unconnected components can provide you and your child with a sense of achievement. Use one of the ideas above, check out some Fall crafts kits for kids online, or take a trip to a craft store with your child and pick something out. There are so many fun and educational ways to encourage creativity in children. When you and your child make something beautiful together, both of you can count it as a win.