Developing the Creative Child: The Importance of Writing

For many children, abstract thinking and spatial reasoning comes naturally and is often developed, further, through the academic process in gradeschool and into high school. With many programs focused on the math and sciences, there are an equal number of children who are exposed to, and prepared for, creative projects. As a parent, the methodical approach to academics may not always lead to the artistic and creative development of your child. As a result, we must instill creative values in our children, beginning at a young age.

One such creative style, involving the skill of writing, can be developed in children at a very young age. Because communication is crucial to our society, teaching children to write well will often lead to children, and adults, who can communicate well. Therefore, finding creative options for our children to develop writing skills will set the foundation for many additional years of creative writing and learning.

One such project, the creation of greeting cards, is a unique way in which parents can foster the creativity of their children. Even in very young children, after the age of one, holding a crayon and creating a greeting card for a birthday, or holiday, will provide the child with the first exposure in creative writing. Using construction paper will also aide the child in developing the beginnings of design and layout.

In addition to greeting cards, many parents are opting to expose their young children to creative writing through preparation of fortune cookies. Using a simple fortune cookie recipe, parents can assist children in creating fortune labels to put inside the cookies and then distribute the fortunes to family, teachers and even include them in their own lunches. This is a great activity for families with multiple children where each can develop fortunes for the others.