Part of our responsibility to our children is to prepare them for the future. Keeping that in mind, wouldn’t you agree that encouraging your child’s creativity may be just as important as encouraging them in studying math, English, and science?
According to Sir Ken Robinson, PhD and internationally-recognized leader in the world of education, creativity and innovation, it is important to identify our children’s creative abilities and allow them room to grow and develop those abilities. Here’s why:
When it comes to creativity, kids don’t seem to be afraid of failure. I think fathers are uniquely gifted to prepare our children to “be wrong” on things from time to time and therefore unafraid to try something new.
Kids are born with the talents to become artists, dancers, ball players, mathematicians, school bus drivers, and hotel managers until we parent them out of their gifts, afraid that ‘that’s not good enough for my kid.’
Something tells me Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs and others like them were encouraged to accept and maybe even embrace failure in order to find their true talents.
When we tell our kids “Don’t do music- you won’t be able to get a job,” or “Don’t do sports because it’s too hard to make the pros” and so on, we unknowingly alter the joy of life for them. We need to make sure our kid’s strengths are valued and that their creativity isn’t only geared towards things that society thinks are important. Our children are more than a commodity, they are our next community.
True Story:
Gillian Lynne's gift for dancing was discovered by a doctor. Lynne had been under performing at school, so her mother took her to the doctor and explained about her fidgeting and lack of focus. After hearing everything her mother said, the doctor told Lynne that he needed to talk to her mother privately for a moment. He turned on the radio and walked out. He then encouraged her mother to look at Lynne, who was dancing to the radio. The doctor noted that she was a dancer, and encouraged Lynne's mother to take her to dance school. Her mother eventually did take her to dance school where Gillian was more comfortable learning while she moved. Gillian went on to become a multi-millionaire as she choreographed such Broadway hits as Cats and Phantom of the Opera.
