Give your child intellectual property: creativity

Have you ever wondered what skill or skills your children need to handle a fast changing world?

With the pace of change in technology and developments in artificial intelligence, many jobs, careers and skills that exist today will disappear or be replaced by machines. How do we prepare our kids for this dynamic, ever changing future?

As a mum, I find this scary because I do not know how the world will look like in 15 or 20 years from now. Just looking at how much has changed over the last two decades – Internet, emails, mobile phones only became available when I was approaching my twenties…

All I know is that things will look quite different. And I also recognise that I have to give my kids the best shot at having options and opportunities to build their lives the way they want.

I believe the best way to prepare my little ones for the uncertain future is to nurture and encourage them to develop skills that will definitely help them deal with fast changing conditions. And one particular skill stands out: creativity.

I once heard a mum saying that, because she was left-brained, her kids would not be ‘creative’. I remember her saying, “.. in my family we can’t draw!’. Humm…. that really got me thinking and prompted me to do a little research on the topic.

You probably heard people say that the right side of the brain is creative and artistic while the left side is the analytical and logical one.

It is true that the brain works like that. But contrary to common belief, research by the University of Utah has shown that there is no evidence supporting the myth that some people are right-brained or left-brained. That’s right, there is no evidence that people have a stronger left- or right-sided brain network.

So what does that mean? Well, it simply means that we all have strengths and weaknesses. We have certain talents and we also have skills that need and can be developed. We can all be creative and analytical, logical and intuitive. That’s right, we can foster and learn anything we want.

And that takes me back to the original topic of this post.

Creativity is a process that involves different yet interacting brain networks – in fact, it involves your whole brain. Creativity also fosters adjustability – another good skill to have in a fast changing world.

We can all teach and help develop our children’s creativity: toys, exercises, games, activities, etc all play a role in helping our kids think creatively. You can spend as much or as little as you want to foster creativity in your kids.

One important thing to consider. As the kids get older and move towards adulthood, they become more critical of their own creative capabilities and tend to focus on their inability to do creative tasks, like drawing or painting or any artwork. That’s why it’s so important to start encouraging them to explore and foster their creative minds from an earlier age. The earlier they become comfortable and confident about their capabilities, the easier it is.

We are approaching 2020. Machines will eventually replicate many analytical tasks but computers are a long way from mastering the nuances of a creative human being. The ability to be creative will be the intellectual property of your child-to-be-adult for all their lives. Nurture that!

As the old saying goes ‘the creative child is the one who survived.’

What are you doing to boost your kids creativity? Share with us!