Creativity and Play

A UCLA study documented at age five we engage in creative tasks 98 times a day, laugh 113 times, and ask 65 questions.  By age forty-four, the numbers fade to 2 creative tasks a day, 11 laughs and 6 questions.  Reverse the slide in these numbers!  People often say they "don't have a creative bone in their body," "creativity is messy," "I don't have time for it."  Stop telling yourself that - you are replaying old messages that simply aren't true.  Gilda Radner had a great quote to remind us, "While we have the gift of life, it seems to me the only tragedy is to allow part of us to die, whether it is our spirit, our creativity, or our glorious uniqueness." 

The book Living Artfully by Sandra Magsamen has great ideas on how to celebrate daily life artistically.  Change those statistics for you as an adult by asking more questions of others and yourself (What is my purpose in doing this?  Is there another way?). Allow yourself to be creative.  Don't wait for the BIG days to do something special!  Here's some ideas to get you started (thing is, you probably have many ways you already live artfully and just haven't given yourself credit.)...

     1.  Spell out "I love you" in alphabet cereal.
     2.  Make pancakes into a mouse shape by pouring a large circle and then two smaller ones on either side.  It really works!
     3.  Write "You are beautiful" on the mirror of the bathroom with dry erase, lipstick, etc.
     4.  Write a joke or note on a napkin or banana peel for a sack lunch.
     5.  Have a special routine at bath time for your children.  Make creations out of their hair when it's full of shampoo.  Play, "Where, oh, where is ___" when towel drying them off.
   
The possibilities are limitless.  Please share comments of ways that you add creativity and play to your daily life and inspire others!  God has given us such an amazing gift to add beauty to any task that we do.  Think about it.... 

Squishy, Squashy Mud Feels Great!

How often do kiddos get to play in the rain puddles and mud these days?  Even with my own, I have to really let go a bit to allow this exploration.  The learning experiences are amazing in this media.  Body awarness as the sensation of mud first comes on wet and later dries to a cement like feeling.  Crossing midline, changes in weight shift, stretches, the list could go on and on... dump and fill activities encourages bilateral coordination, vocabulary exploration and use of tools for cognition to mention a few more....  Artistic experiences come as pies, cakes, volcanoes, soups are created. It's free and FUN!  I would encourage you to allow your child to explore rain puddles and even some mud - of course with supervision - and perhaps even joining in yourself!  If you would prefer to do this on a smaller scale - bring in a little mud in a tub or container that you can set on the table and explore with your hands.  Or better yet, set on the floor to to step into.  Let the fun begin!