Creative play for kids has become a very important part of raising our two children. As a homeschooling family, we believe that it’s one of the best ways to learn.

• Related: Homeschooling in Bacolod is Best for Our Children

Creative Play for Kids

We buy lots of educational toys, game boards, and other recreational items to stimulate our children’s creativity. But honestly, creative play for kids can just happen anytime and anywhere with whatever items they have.

It is basically just allowing kids to become kids and to let them enjoy as much playtime as they can. Give them household items or kitchen ingredients and their mind will already shift into overdrive because of their novel ideas.

Benefits of Creative Play

Our kids get the most benefit from creative play than just spending time using tablets and technology. Or spending time at the mall. Here are some of benefits that our kids can reap from creative play.

• Intellectual benefits – Analytical thinking and problem solving are just some of the things that kids harness while spending time with creative play. They compute, add decorations, or form shapes, among other things, depending on available things.
• Physical benefits – They use fine motor skills when making something. And when they create something, they will surely use it. They will climb, fly, jump, or crawl with their creations.
• Emotional benefits – Playing helps kids express their emotions–both positive and negative. During these times, you can help them navigate through their feelings, especially those of disappointment and frustration.
• Social benefits – Normally, kids would bond with little ones their age. They will find something in common so that they can play together. I have seen this with our kids and they immediately feel at home with kids of the same interest.
• Communication skills – My kids are very fond of creating things and giving them personalities. And of course, they are the ones giving the voice over for these inanimate objects. Sometimes, they change their voices or even use other accents or languages. It’s so entertaining to listen to them play.

Parenting in the digital age can be a pretty tricky balance. We know that the kids can learn a lot of things from apps and software However, the use of gadgets should be controlled because their disadvantages far outweigh the benefits.

Materials Needed for Creative Play

You know what? There is no limit to creativity so that means there are no limits in the materials that your kids can use. Except of course, when some materials are dangerous or not age-appropriate.

Some of the most common materials that children can make use of are the following:

• Clay – You can make your own or just buy Play Doh.
• Papers, Glue, and scissors – Our little Shane had been handy with scissors since she was around two years old. She started with safety scissors and eventually she uses pretty much everything.
• Boxes – Oh my, kids will really have a field day with boxes big and small.
• Stickers – There are stickers made of different materials, colors, shapes, and even gems. Get them a combination of all these and you will be surprised with the results. The kids combine the stickers with paint or crayons and create a whole artwork using them.
• Crayons, water colors, and paints – Give them lots of brushes, papers, and canvas to experiment on.
• Bathroom tissue rolls – You will be surprised with the things that they can come up with these. So far the kids have made castles, people, cellphone holder with sound amplifier, and DIY Christmas decors with these.

There are so many things that your kids can use and a lot of them can just be found in the home. If you give them so many things, they will find ways to mix and match everything to come up with a unique creation.

Tips to Minimize the Mess

When kids get creative, a messy room or home is sure to follow. To minimize that, here are some ideas:

• Give them sketch books or drawing books. Here, they can draw, paint, and create their sticker montages.
• Provide scratch paper. The kids like too doodle, so they can use these. We have a lot of stationery from the family-friendly hotels we have stayed in, so they use these, too.
• Assign a sticker wall. Some kids just like to collect stickers and look at them. So that they won’t stick anywhere in the house, assign an area of them where they have complete freedom to stick. I used to have a Manila paper size on one wall for when the kids were younger.
• Adapt clean as you go policy. After a certain activity, get them to pack away their stuff.
• Get them to help clean up. To ensure that they will minimize their mess, get them to help you with cleaning, like wiping, mopping, and taking out the trash.

Sparking Creativity

A few years back, we went to the SM Store of SM City Bacolod and we bought eight hand lotions. We thought of giving these away to our staff for Christmas. Just a token for them, as we really did not have a big budget to set aside for this. We also just want Dindin to be able experience giving gifts to others.

Anyway, we just arrived home and I took out the items from the shopping bag. The next thing I knew, Dindin had played with them and she has already formed them into a flower. hihihi Isn’t her arrangement cute?

She has this penchant for forming new things using ordinary materials that she finds lying around in the room. Interestingly, she has this creative eye that can see things from a different perspective. She can then make nice things out of them.

That is why I had to take a photo of this. It is just soooo nice to pass up. 😀 And look, they are in perfect symmetry. haha So OC.

Homeschooling Allows for More Creativity

This is one of the reasons why we are a homeschooling our children. . We want to let them pursue their passions and inclinations without the pressures of school. It will also be perfect for our traveling lifestyle.

Related homeschooling stories:

• Homeschooling in Bacolod is Best for Our Kids
• Handling Negative Opinion About Homeschooling
• Bacolod Homeschoolers Network