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3 Ways to Teach Creativity to Young Kids

Three young children bang on pots and pans outside; 3 Ways to Teach Creativity to Young Kids

How to teach creativity and nurture it often gets lumped into “the arts,” but creativity is about so much more than that. It has to do with asking the right questions, encouraging pretend play in different settings, providing starting points and watching (or nurturing vs leading) the problem-solving at work.

One of the best places to turn up the volume on creative learning is outside. We asked Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer of Tinkergarten (now part of Highlights for Children) Meghan Fitzgerald, some of her team’s favorite go-tos when it comes to breaking down creativity into digestible, reachable, and teachable ideas for teachers and families. Here’s what she had to say.

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Why Shared Musical Play with Your Child Is So Important (And Ideas to Implement!)

Mom and 2-year-old son create musical play via singing and hand movements.

Music—whether you’re listening to it or playing it—has loads of benefits, but shared musical play (the act of making and reacting to music with another person) takes those benefits to the next level. Shared musical play is the ultimate multi-sensory experience that boosts cognitive, whole body, and social-emotional development, and supports critical grownup/child connection…all through PLAY! 

There’s research to prove why practicing shared musical play at home is absolutely essential to positive growth and family engagement during the early years.

So, what exactly does it say and how can you replicate it?

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How Music Teaches Kids to Self-Regulate

Kindermusik | How to Calm an Upset Child with Music

He’s so whiny. She’s a hitter. He cries non-stop. She can’t stop talking…if this sounds like your child(ren), they’re not wild—they need help learning how to self-regulate.

When grownups are overstimulated or don’t get their way, we (usually) use tools like taking a deep breath or a walk to make sure we don’t lose it. When we self-regulate, we balance our nervous systems. That helps us access our prefrontal cortex, where logic lives.

When it comes to self-regulation in children, they’ve got two things working against them:

1) They aren’t born with the tools to regulate their nervous systems, and

2) Their prefrontal cortex isn’t fully formed, so they need extra help to reach and dissect that logic.

Enter music!

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Music and Crafts to Celebrate Spring

Spring

For a child, celebrating the little moments today become the most treasured memories of tomorrow.  In many parts of the world, spring is just around the corner, and we have a few musical and artsy-crafty ways to help you celebrate the change of season even as you enjoy some precious child celebrating time with that sweet little someone who lights up your world all through the year!

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Fun and Favorite Valentine’s Crafts Just for Young Children

Kindermusik Music Classes for Kids

If you’re looking for some simple and enjoyable Valentine’s crafts, look no further.  We’ve pulled together a few of our top favorites to share here with you so you could check off the Valentine’s needed for teacher, Grandma, Uncle Joe, and more, and best of all, so you could sprinkle in a little extra love, giggles, and special memories of time together around the very holiday meant to be a time to express our love in special ways.

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