Spotlight on: Creativity Time
We're getting ready to head into week 2 of schools being closed and the first week that our friends from child care centers will be joining our "Staying at Home" party. We want to take some time to break down the parts of the schedule suggestion that Christyn provided last week. Let's first focus on "Creativity Time".
Before I get into some suggestions for creativity time, please indulge me in some brain science. You may know that the brain is split into two hemispheres, aptly named the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. The left hemisphere is used for logic, reasoning, numbers, language, organization, and order while the right hemisphere is responsible for emotions, creativity, intuition, and imagination. It is important during our everyday life to make sure we are engaging each side of our brain with activities that stimulate and challenge it. During our current reality where many things feel out of control, it is even more important to engage the right hemisphere of our brain. Creative based activities can help us to express and cope with our emotions. This is especially true for children and teens. They are still developing emotionally so any way we can support them in this is important. Supplying them with time to be creative is one way to support their emotional development. When we do this we are giving them a break from the structure, analytical thinking they are doing when they are working on “school” work and giving them the opportunity to work through all they feelings that are spinning through their brain because of our situation (all of this is on top of normal kid/tween/teen feelings).
Ok, there are the “whys” when it comes to creative time so let’s move onto the “what.” I can remember being young and my parents telling me to go color or write a story. I would always respond “I don’t know what to draw” or “I don’t know what to write about.” For some people, creativity comes easily. For others, like myself, it can be a struggle. I always did well in school when I was given a topic to draw or a prompt to write from. Asking a child or teen to be freely creative during this time may feel good to them. For others, it may add on feelings of anxiety. For those kiddos who, like me, need a bit of structure we’ve come up with some “Creative Time Prompts.”
Use these words to help guide your children/teens in a creative project. You can make a collage of images that bring you peace. You can write a story about a time when you felt grounded. You can paint with colors that make you feel joy or calm or grounded. The possibilities are endless! For the next few weeks, we’ll post a set of prompts on Sunday evening for the upcoming week. Use them how you will but make sure you tag us in your family’s creations! We can’t wait to see them!