Notice how your toddler dresses as Superman or how he thinks he is a bat by day and a vampire by night? Those are products of his imaginative mind. Toddlers are very creative by nature. But sadly, they can lose this skill as they grow older. Here are a few parent-tested tips for raising a creative child.

Encourage Experimentation

Forget the rules and let your toddler try out things without having to worry how they should be done. Let him combine colors together, design a plain white t-shirt, build things with his toys, do arts and crafts, cut different shapes using cookie cutters or whatever he wants to do. Free play gives him the freedom and the chance to think outside the box.

Read Books

Books are the best instruments to liven up the mind. Read magazines, storybooks, newspapers and brochures together to fuel your toddler’s fantasy. Encourage your little one to come up with his own endings.

Give Your Toddler Tons of Creative Materials

Provide your little one with plenty of supplies such as papers, crayons, pencils, paints, clay, sand, glue, tape, building blocks, puppets and the likes. This will give your toddler tons of fresh ideas and get those creative juices flowing.

Play Creative Games

Make up your own stories, with your toddler as the main character. You can start off and then have him take over the story. Let your toddler stage a play or better yet, invite your neighbour’s kids over to your house and hold a “pretend play day” for them. Give them costumes and have them make their own rules and storylines.

Play charades. Get the whole family involved, form two teams and play off against each other. The drawing game is also another very good game. Have your toddler draw a squiggle (uneven curve or twist) on a board or paper and ask him what it is. Then, draw more squiggles and let your toddler connect them to build objects.

See The World

One very effective way to boost your toddler’s creative mind is to allow him to explore the world. Schedule a day trip to the zoo, park, museum, construction sites, train tracks and countryside. Go camping during the weekend. Give him a shovel, shallow dish, magnifying glass, a notebook and a pen so he can examine and list down the things he saw while he was playing detective in your garden.

Ask For Your Toddler’s Opinion

Each time you ask for your child’s opinion, it gets him thinking. Just ask simple questions like what he wants to eat for dinner, what he thinks about your house rules, how he felt when his playmate accidentally pushed him or where he wants to go.

Be Creative Yourself

You do not have to be Picasso to be artistic. Inject creativity in your everyday activities such as changing the lines of his favorite children’s song, using your fingers to paint or using a glass to flatten and cut dough as a substitute to cookie cutters and rolling pins. When your toddler sees your resourcefulness, it will eventually rub off on him.

Nurturing your toddler’s creative spirit will get him far in life. So make sure you provide him opportunities where he can exercise his imaginative mind.

Teaching your child to write is no easy task. It is a process that needs to be nurtured through time. But, with your support, patience and determination, you and your toddler can accomplish this. Below are some tips to help you out.

Show It

The first step to encouraging your toddler to write is by writing yourself. Show your little one that writing is fun and important. Write lists, notes and letters in front of your toddler and read them out loud. Give him a paper and a crayon to encourage him to imitate you. Even if he is just scribbling, at least he is able to exercise his handwriting skills.

Provide Manipulative Activities

Make playtime educational by introducing your toddler to fun activities that help improve his manipulation skills. Play with clay. String Cheerios to a piece of yarn or string to make a necklace. Encourage him to construct things using his building blocks. Finger paint together. Help him use safety scissors to cut shapes from paper and pictures from old books and magazines. Doing these activities helps him practice finger and hand movements which helps enhance his manipulative and fine motor skills.

Introduce Writing Materials

After introducing him to activities that promote his writing skills, it is time to present your toddler with writing materials. Give him crayons, coloring books and dot-to-dot books. Keep paper and washable crayons and markers around the house so he can draw and doodle anytime he wants to. Teach your little one how to properly hold a pencil. Help your toddler draw shapes, lines and stick figures. Ask your toddler to write stories about the things he did that day. Let him write cards and notes during holidays and important events (e.g. birthdays, Valentine’s day or a letter for a sick friend). Let him write using sidewalk chalks or on a dry erase board. Praise him for a job well done. Stick his masterpieces to the refrigerator, the wall or frame them to recognize his great work. Be positive and resist the urge to make corrections.

Print Your Toddler’s Name

Keep your toddler interested to write by teaching him how to write his name. Guide his hands so he can write the letters of his name on a piece of paper. Better yet, print his name as an outline. You may use Microsoft Word or Microsoft Paint to do this. Just choose a large font, select outline and then print it. This will make it easier for your toddler to focus in between the lines while he follows the outline of the letters in his name.

Read Aloud

Reading is a very effective way to teach a toddler to write. Read a book every day. Pick out books that contain colorful images and bright, short phrases. Good examples are the alphabet and number book. Read these books to your toddler and repeat it. This will make it easier for your toddler to recognize the letters and numbers and soon start writing them.

Remember that learning should always be fun and exciting, and with the help of these methods, your toddler will learn how to write in no time.