“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” – Osho
As a child, I spent hours in my bedroom writing poetry and short stories. As I found different words and phrases to express my thoughts and emotions, my creative spark grew into a fire that would eventually result in five published books. My childhood hobby inspired a creativity that has benefited me for much of my adult life.
Now, as a mother, I watch how my sons’ hobbies have done the same. Through countless hours of drawing, building, filming, editing, acting, and painting, my boys have become creative young men with a definite passion for the arts. This is why I believe that, though the academics and sports we often push are important, free time to pursue one’s own interests is the birthplace of creativity. Children must have time for hobbies.
Creative hobbies have been linked to better performance at work in studies on adults. In fact, these studies show that people who engage in hobbies are more likely to come up with creative solutions to problems at work and scored 15% to 30% higher on performance rankings in one study. I believe this is just as true with children. It stands to reason that children who engage in creative hobbies will perform better academically.
Better performance isn’t the only benefit of a sparked imagination, of course. More and more research is emerging on the link between happiness and creativity. Creative hobbies reduce stress, build confidence, and lead to greater well-being. Children feel a great sense of achievement when they use their imagination and skills to create something. Visual arts have particular benefit in lowering stress and increasing psychological resilience.
Speaking of skills, hobbies help children develop and grow important life skills as well as academic skills. An avid reader is sharpening his vocabulary, reading comprehension, and concentration. A hobby in the performing arts builds listening skills, memory, emotional intelligence, and self-expression. Little musicians are enhancing coordination, sharpening math skills, learning cooperation, and more. Painters and sculptors are fine-tuning observation skills, focus, collaboration, risk-taking, and self-expression.
Creative hobbies provide countless benefits for children, so the question is – how do you ignite the spark in your child?
Introduce but do not force.
Expose your child to a range of hobbies. Provide supplies such as sculpting clay, writing tablets, colored pencils, sketch books, and paint. Talk with your child about cooking classes, drama classes, and music lessons to see what she may be interested in. Help her discover what she loves. Although it may be tempting to force a child to play piano, for example, creativity and inspiration cannot be forced. To reap the benefits, the hobby must be self-driven. The passion for it must be within the child – all you can do is lead him there to discover it on his own.
Create space for free play.
We live in an over-scheduled, endlessly busy culture in which free play is at risk for extinction. Make sure your child actually has time to devote to a hobby. So “no” to commitments that leave you and your child feeling drained and uninspired, and say “yes” to empty calendar days.
Watch the criticism.
An ill-placed word of criticism can snuff out a creative spark in an instant. “Grass isn’t purple, Sam.” “Your notes were way off. Keep practicing.” Choose your words carefully. Yes, we must all be able to handle criticisms eventually, but a child’s spark is a valuable little flame that should be fiercely protected until it has developed into an unquenchable fire.
“Everyday, everywhere our children spread their dreams beneath our feet and we should tread softly.” – Ken Robinson