I have been delighted to stumble upon The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nuture Family Connections by Amanda Blake Soule recently. What a fun read it has been. I have been inspired by this author’s creativity and desire to build family relationships through simple enjoyment of nature. Although not written from a Christian perspective, I was inspired to see in a new light how we are all designed to be creative beings made in the image of a Creative God.
Amanda shares, “We don’t have to ‘teach’ our children to be creative – inherent in the very core of children’s beings is the embodiment of creativity…A large part of nurturing a spirit of creativity comes from being mindful, slowing down, observing, and looking around you at the beauty and inspiration all around…The joyful act of creating together can be positively magical and truly a gift for everyone. Much of our cultural energy is spent filling our minds, hearts, and time with things outside our families, as is evident in the smaller amount of time that families spent together at home…The experience of turning inward toward your family for creative fulfillment can be an amazing and powerful experience for the entire family -young and old.”
We really don’t have to ‘teach’ our children to be creative! We just have to supply our children with the tools necessary to apply that creativity! This book is full of fun ideas for simple projects, games, and crafts to encourage imagination in your family. She shares about building your craft closet to have items ready to allow children to explore and draw. She invites you to build a dress up box full of items to inspire stories and performances.
I love how she gives an abundance of ideas for doing it all frugally as well! You don’t have to invest in expensive supplies, as nature provides us with many inspirations for creativity. Find items in the pantry (beans, popcorn kernels, noodles and seeds), nature (pine cones, wood, leaves, bark, stones), thrift shops, and trash/recycling (old magazines, calenders, etc) and let their creative juices flow!
My favorite ideas include holding a regular family drawing night and together exploring an article of creation, or photo from a magazine, etc. The family sits down with their own drawing notebooks and draws the chosen object and then discusses the differences of their drawings and other questions. I also loved the questions she offered for evaluating what kind of toys we bring into our homes: is it beautiful? Is it simple? What is it made of? What senses does it use? How is it organized? Is there too much? She offered a profound observation: “A sad product of our modern world is that our children are taught early on to over consume and to want more, more, and more. Chances are that they do not need more toys, but fewer. When there are too many things around, there’s little room for imagination.” So many of the toys on the market “do it all”, entertaining our children and leaving no room to develop their creative senses. Bring nature indoors and let their creative minds be put to work. Yarn/Fabric baskets with different textures of fabric, pine cones for stacking or dolls, rocks for painting, wooden blocks, and more provide equal if not superior joy and inspiration.
Highly recommend this read! I cannot wait to read her next book, Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures, scheduled to be released this next month.
I have already gone through my one year old’s toys to filter out more than half of them because she has way too many that they were actually stopping her focus so she’d pick up a toy to play with but see another one and switch toys only to get distracted by yet another. Her attention span was definitely deteriorating. Now with the decreased number of toys she can easily sit and play for long periods at a time with the same toy. It’s fantastic!
I have this book and I love many of the ideas. I let my son use my older digital camera and the photos are quite good for a 5 yr old. He and my 4 yr old take turns using the camera, so it also teaches to share.
I totally agree you don’t have to push the creativity. Just listen to their ideas and keep on hand materials to make things. I have adopted this attitude and am amazed at the incredible art work they produce. (I have to say always make the art supplies accessable…not messy ones ha! those need supervision)
I also love the idea of a family drawing time. I have incorporated that into our homeschooling and the kids love that I draw or create with them. Sometimes, I just place an item on the kitchen table (like a seashell) and let them follow mama’s lead and draw it.
We have also incorporated a “nature table” and this is such an awesome thing to have for rocks, pinecones, little critters
. yikes, I have written a book.
this sounds like such a good read.
i absolutely agree with the idea that we don’t need to teach children to be creative. if anything, we need to remind adults that we are ALL creative–created in the image of a creative God. around middle school, so people decide that they aren’t good at art and stop creating–and that is such a shame!
This sounds so good! It’s so true that kids are being “entertained” instead of providing opportunities for their creative juices to flow!
Thanks for showing us this book.
Good reminders! I like the way she thinks.
Hi! I actually found your blog from a comment left on SouleMama’s blog. Seems like we have a lot of common interests – I am so encouraged by all of the mamas out there who embrace homemaking as an art, who look at mothering as a joy and a privilege.
I agree 100% with your sentiment that our children’s imaginations and creativity often get cluttered up by all of the “stuff” in their lives. It’s often a challenge to express this to extended family with their exuberant gift-giving habits.
However, my 1 year-old son would rather play with empty milk cartons and cardboard boxes in the recycle box than the battery-operated toys from relatives. my girls, now 6 1/2 and 4 1/2, have more spontaneous, creative, imaginative play with shells we collected at the beach, or scraps of fabric leftover from quilt-making, or a box of window markers, than any “fancy” store-bought plastic toy.
Glad to have found your blog. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’ll be back.
Another wonderful book on the topic of creativity from a Christian perspective (although not necessarily geared toward children specifically, but rather all Christians) is “The Hidden Art of Homemaking” by Edith Schaeffer. It is simply amazing and I highly recommend it.
great post!! i went to her blog (fabulous) and just ordered this book (used!) on amazon. GREAT suggestion! thanks =)
thanks for the rec! sounds like something that i need right now for my kiddos. i ordered both books. can’t wait to read them!
Thanks for the tip! I just ordered it through our interlibrary loan system. Also, thanks Mary for the blog info…I am now subscribed! Our children are so creative. They have already been working on Christmas gifts for the family. It’s fun to look at new ideas and get inspiration.
Our children have a lot of toys . . . but they’re mostly boxed up, and awaiting the day when I can let go and give them away. So much of life is taken up in entertainment and diversion, when what we really need is each other.
There is still plenty of room for play; my 15-month-old spent quite a bit of time today figuring out how to climb up on the couch, sit there all by himself with a pleased look of triumph on his face, and then climb down again. A really good quote I once read is “Play is the work of children.” But it’s not just what it seems . . . if play is the work of children, then I need to be sure that I provide plenty of opportunities for play that is not only engaging, but meaningful . . . not just electronic gadgets (although my children will, of necessity, be tech-literate), but cooking, and exploring our surroundings, and helping to run the family and household. If I’m careful with how I assign tasks and work with the kids, they’re interested and enjoy what they do.
Thanks for the great book recommendation!
I totally agree that kids today are bombarded with too many toys that hamper them from using their imagination. When I was a child I would spend large amounts of time playing outside in my backyard and being creative. There is no telling how many mud pies I have made in my life time!
So glad you found her! THis is one of my all time daily reads. Her photography and posts are so simple & beautiful!
She also has great giveaways too!
soulemama.com
Sarah M
I just recently stumbled across her blog, and now I will definitely read her book! Many of her suggestions are in tune with the Montessori and Waldorf educational styles, which emphasize natural objects as inspiration and toys for children. Love your blog!
Hi Lindsey!
Isn’t this a wonderful book?! I have gotten so many great ideas from this – we bought a kids digital camera for our son and it is so neat to see what he finds important and snaps photos of. We currently have out a train table that my husband built, wood trains/tracks, some matchbox cars, and art supplies – that is it and little guy is perfectly happy.
For a few months I’ve been on a waiting list with my library to borrow The Creative Family … hope to get it soon! My kids love art and creating. I start Christmas shopping in the summer and was thrilled when I asked my 9yo daughter what she would like for gifts and she said “paper, beads, art supplies…”; not that her room isn’t already full of this stuff but she just loves to have beautiful, inspiring supplies all around her
Can’t wait to find a copy to read! Thanks for the recommendation and for the inspiration.
thank you so much for this book tip. i’m going to check it out right now!
Thanks! I love books like that and can’t wait to check it out.
Oh, this is one of my favorite books! I look at it often for ideas and inspiration. I’ve already placed my pre-order for Handmade Home! Do you read Amanda’s blog? http://www.soulemama.com/ Also a place for constant inspiration!
peace,
Mary