What kind of activities at home can parents do with their children to spur interest and enthusiasm? Each child is different, but any creative endeavours is good to foster creative and critical thinking.
I have been conducting creative classes the past 10 years and experienced that from creative exercises and activities, students learn to express themselves freely and creatively. This can be very therapeutic as well as emotionally gratifying for them. Here are a few examples of kids who took their creativity beyond the living room!
What’s doodling?
By using simple line drawings you can create interesting characters, patterns or stories together. You can start by drawing a character or thing, and slowly you add on to the picture. You could also do this with another person and a next person, to add on to the picture until it becomes a piece of art. And from the doodles, stories and characters are created and developed along the way.
One of my former students is Andi Miranti and he has autism. He could initially draw only stick men. But he was very determined to improve in his drawing and he practised everyday. Everywhere he went, he had his sketch pad with him and he would be doodling in it. A few years later, he published his first Ned Dickens Original Comic series, which was followed by more. He also prints his drawings on T-shirts for sale.
Does your child have an interest in doodling? Have a look at some great tutorials here and here!
… and doodling can also lead to games creation
Another result of doodling activities is game creation. Max loves to draw and his interest in drawing and playing games led him to create his own brand of a card game called Vanggoro.
“Instead of selling muffins or food in my school fair, I wanted to do something I am good at: drawing and gaming.” Max started his games business when he was only 11! He has been traveling to international game maker fairs in Singapore, Japan, South Korea and the U.S.
Have a look here at our article about making board games at home. Is your child into game development? have a look here and here for great tutorials.
…or even lead to animating!
Young Emerson and his older brother Sheldon are shining examples of how being creative at home led them to having 100.000 subscribers at their animation Youtube channel. Their skills in story telling, art work, animation and coding have won them already many international prizes. Besides working on their book projects and animation projects, they are constantly busy conducting talks and workshops on cartooning, animation and coding.
They are also very good musicians too, as they belt out popular songs at charity events. Check them out here.
Does your child have an interest in coding and making animations? Have a look here at this very informative Youtube video for beginners!
