What are Creative Roadblocks and how do parents avoid them?

Good, supportive, modern parents are often shocked to learn that some of the things they think are good parenting techniques actually are quite destructive to the development of creative thinking.Creative roadblocks to avoid.

Constant observation - monitoring – watchfulness:  Many well meaning parents actually smother creative instincts in their children by too much supervision.  Creative thinking needs room to breath.  Kids need to feel free to take risks and experiment.  They don’t like to make mistakes or look silly in front of mom or dad or big sis.

Scrutiny or judgment:  Creativity cannot survive when it is being judged or scrutinized.  The fact is that failure is as much a part of the creative process as is success.  It is the trial and error that leads to the final result.  Without the freedom to fail creativity is stifled.  When kids feel like their work is being judged they will not risk failure.

Incentive – reward: The definition of reward is something  given or received for worthy behavior, or compensation given as an inducement to cause a desired act or circumstance to occur.  On the surface it would seem like rewarding creative thinking may be a positive, but in reality it teaches kids how to act if they want to be rewarded.  The goal is for kids to learn the joy of creating.

Competition: process of trying to beat others… a contest:   In any competition there are winners and losers.  It will pit one child against another in a very judgmental way.  Not only that, but it assumes that each child is progressing in each skill at the same rate. Pitting kids, one against the other, in any creative venture is a lose/lose situation.

Management - restraint – control:  All words that leave little room for experimentation.  They limit curiosity, the time it takes to question anything and everything.  They put creativity in a box and don’t allow for the messy, imperfect process that fosters creative thinking.

Expectations: For the most part kids like to please.  Expectations create pressure and pressure kills innovation.  Kids will spend their valuable creative time trying to anticipate what they can do to live up to expectations rather than using that time to explore and experiment. 

Rules - Process:  Creative thinking is as much about the journey as it is about the result.  In fact, many times there will be no result, or a result different then what might have been anticipated.  In a rigid environment defined by rules and process there is little room for innovation and experimentation… little room for enjoying the journey. 

Programming - planning:  A day that is deliberate and premeditated leaves little breathing room for creativity.  A child who must be shuttled from one lesson or meeting to another will not have time to think… to create… to just be. There must be time in the week for unstructured, creative activities… that time is as important in a child’s development as attending school.

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