The Practice of Creative Thinking

Creativity can’t happen without passion, and practice.

So much has been written about methodologies for enhancing creativity. My house is overflowing with gadgets and games we’ve gotten the kids over the years to bring out their ‘inner Da Vinci.’

Although I’ve picked up great ideas on how to get the creative juices rumbling – and have incorporated them into my creative writing classes for children (& adults) – you can’t escape the truth that everyone is different.

Each person has to roll through the mud of trial and error to find what excites them.

In the same way that each artist must follow their own aesthetic, each person must figure out what gets them excited. There’s no cookie-cutter formula.

You can help your child find the promised land of creativity – as long as you’re willing to go through the pain of trial and error.

That’s where the practice comes in.

Teaching kids to think for themselves and develop the muscle of relying on their own opinions – and not being people pleasers – requires practice.

Knowing the value that mistakes bring to creativity, and supporting that thinking in everyday life, takes practice.

It takes practice to give kids permission to play freely, to express themselves all the way, to be silly, and sometimes to do stupid, spontaneous things – without the demon of shame.

It takes a lot of effort to find passion, and to practice maintaining creative thinking.

But the good news is, all the misery and mess and money is eventually worth it. Finding their creative core is the greatest gift you can give children.