Today’s culture of video games, the Internet and television does little to stimulate creativity in your child.

These technological products lead kids through a pre-imagined world instead of allowing them to create their own imaginative environment. Turn off the TV, shut down the computer, unplug the video game console and follow these tips to stimulate creativity in your child.

Stimulate creativity in your child by encouraging curiosity

Children are naturally inquisitive. They look at the world with fresh eyes and are eager to experience everything for the first time. Tap into your child’s natural sense of curiosity and encourage creativity with these ideas.

Instead of dragging your child on errands with you, go on expeditions together. A trip to the laundromat is boring until it becomes an underwater station just waiting to be explored.

Encourage your little one to look through the round machine windows and create stories about what may lurk in the sudsy darkness. A visit to the thrift store can become an opportunity to create stories about the people that once wore that bright green fedora, shiny black shoes or silky orange scarf.

Thrift stores are also great places to stock up on outfits for dress up time and stimulate creativity in your child.

Stimulate creativity in your child by reading together

Reading encourages both the imagination and literacy skills. Have daily story time and let your child choose the book. Do not just read from cover to cover; instead, allow your child to be involved in the story telling process.

While reading, ask your child what he or she thinks about the characters, what they look like and how they should sound when speaking.

Close the book a few pages early and stimulate creativity in your child by letting him come up with an ending all of their own.

Stimulate creativity in your child by providing a creative environment

Children should be allowed to exercise their creativity in a safe space. Set up a creativity corner or room and stock it with supplies like play dough, clay, beads, string, glue, paint, crayons, paper and safety scissors.

A trunk full of your thrift-store finds is perfect for dress-up, and a reading corner is great for story time. Cover the floor with a tarp or sheet so messy materials can be used without fear.

Stimulate creativity in your child by snapping photos

Let the kids be the photographers on your next outing or vacation. After purchasing a cheap disposable camera or teaching them about your own, let them snap shots of anything they please.

This activity will not only stimulate creativity in your child, but it also allows you to see the world through your child’s eyes. You may be surprised at the results.

Stimulate creativity in your child by playing with food

One way to encourage both creativity and healthy habits is to cook with your kids. Parents can make pizza dough and let the kids decorate it with vegetable faces, complete with tomato slice eyes and pepper lips.

Let the kids experiment using different ingredients to create tasty concoctions like smoothies, salads and soups.

Stimulate creativity in your child by encouraging creative curriculum

Creativity is not limited to the arts or music. Kids should be encouraged to creatively solve problems in all educational areas, including math, science and history.

Allow children to come to their own conclusions before telling them answers.

Stimulate creativity in your child by asking creative questions

Frequently ask your children open-ended questions. For instance, ask your child what they think of an experience or an idea. Ask how they might change things to improve them.

Your child will learn to think more creatively when you ask “what if?”

Stimulate creativity in your child by embracing nature

Children love to play outside. Encourage creative play by looking for shapes in the clouds, building forts out of sticks, pressing flowers and collecting seashells.

Let kids make decisions for the whole family every so often. Ask them how they would like to spend the afternoon and let them plan an outing.

Older teens can be trusted to find creative ways to pay for student car insurance rates once they get their license. Part of stimulating your child’s creativity is enabling them to solve problems on their own.

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Article contributed by: Jessica Biederman.