fostering creativity

I want my children to be creative.  More creative than me.  Isn't that always the case - we want more for our children?  Which may be a problem.  After all, I have enough.  More than enough of all that I need.  My kids don't need more.  But that's a post for another day.

Back to creativity:  I want to encourage my kids to be creative.  In their play, in their art, in their writing, in their dress (sometimes - I admit I cringe a little inside at my girl's creative side in regards to clothing!).  I want them to know the joy of making something with their own hands, or of creating an experience all their own.  I want them to be problem solvers and critical thinkers.  I want them to have a vibrant imagination that grows out of their faith in a creative God.  I want them to enter in to the world around them with joy and excitement at all of the possibility!

I don't want much, do I? ;)

But I worry that I don't do enough to encourage this creativity, and that school does its best to discourage it.  For the first time ever, I worry about sending my kids to public school.  Not because the school is bad (it's quite good, in fact).  Not because of any perceived-to-be dangerous influences.  Definitely not because they don't pray communally in school (we do that at home, and they're welcome to do it any time they want).  No, I worry about public school because there's a lot of emphasis on testing (Standards of Learning - SOLs - in Virginia), so there's a lot of time behind a desk.  More time than I expected for first grade.

And My Girl had a hard time adjusting.  My Girl who is constantly moving, constantly talking, constantly planning.  She had a rough time sitting in a seat and staying focused for so long.  And for a brief moment, I considered homeschooling.  Me - homeschooling!!  Oh my goodness, where did that come from?  It turns out (much to my surprise) that I have a bit of an affinity for the Montessori and/or Waldorf modeled homeschool.  But I couldn't do it.  Aside from the financial ramifications, it would not be healthy for our mother-daughter relationship!

So we've weathered the adjustment period, and she's doing much better.  But still I feel a responsibility to give her (and the boy) opportunities for creativity.  It's not my responsibility alone, however.  It turns out I really like some of the art-related things they're doing at school!  And I'm sure that her trained art teacher has an even better understanding of developing imagination than I do.  Here are a couple things from school that I've enjoyed:

Mutant animals!  They're a combo of 2 or 3 animals. 

My favorite is the teranodon/rabbit/unicorn! (bottom picture, top left)



And here's a halloween/fall picture.  It's hard to tell in this picture,

but those are leaves floating around in the air. 

I love the feeling of freedom here:

And our own halloween project at home - painting with Q-tips!

Even the boy got in on the action! (and yes, I let him stand in his chair)

His finished project (I love the multi-dimensional quality!):

I've been working on my own creativity, too.  Though my creativity mostly involves just modifying someone else's idea.  But that's a skill, too, right?  I've been working on the sewing machine a bunch (for me) lately.  Still only simple projects, but I love creating something simple that is also lovely and useful.  What a joy!