In a recent article in Newsweek, “The Creativity Crisis,” it is reported that for the first time American creativity scores are declining. Children have been tested for creativity and then followed by scholars to see if there is a link between original scores and future proof of creativity lived out in their adult accomplishments. According to the article, “the accepted definition of creativity is production of something original and useful.” Professor Paul Torrence uses a creativity index to predict kids’ creative accomplishments as adults–artists, entrepreneurs, etc. He found that “the correlation to lifetime creative accomplishment was more than three times stronger for childhood creativity than childhood IQ.”
So are our kids destined to be less creative adults since our kids’ scores are declining? How can we encourage more creativity?
I work with parents every day, encouraging them to provide great toys and open-ended props for play–a blank cardboard box and markers, a scarf, a stick or a Kleenex box. I love when I come to a home and am greeted by a child in a home-made costume by the child himself. Duncan had watched a TV show about a disc jockey and had a Kleenex box taped to a belt around his waist, which was his boom box. Yesterday I was with Christopher who loves Toy Story characters and looked at me in the middle of play and said, “We need the rocket!” He went over to the dining table and brought back a lantern that he unlatched to open and let Buzz and Woody in for a ride!
If parents allow kids to have more unstructured time, give them some props and even play a little along side them to get the play going, we may see some creativity scores on the rise.
It’s exciting watching kids assemble their new school supplies, get their backpacks together and compare who is in what class. Some of my friends are teary as they launch their college kids and prepare to drop them off and return to a slightly empty house.
Speech therapists and teachers have been busy preparing their rooms, lists, and making schedules. When I was working in the schools for 20 years, the first two weeks were crazy–finding kids, making a schedule and changing it multiple times. I feel for all of you who are in the throws of that right now. It’s funny, even in private practice, I have to make a whole new schedule at the beginning of each summer and each school year, so I don’t even escape that. At least I don’t have schedule around gym, art and music classes!
As a private therapist I have a unique opportunity to coordinate with classroom teachers and therapists at a child’s schoool. I have several children whom I see every few weeks at their nursery school to communicate goals and progress with teachers. This fall I am waiting a few weeks for kids to get adjusted and then will go into their preschool classes and assess whether their language skills are carrying over into the classroom. Often with preschool children, they might offer more language and seem more advanced in an individual session than when they are in a group setting of peers and adults. I worked with one child from 2-3 years of age and as his language improved, he still didn’t apply his skills in talking with peers. I ended up working with him in his preschool setting to prompt his interactions with peers. For some reason he was very comfortable engaging with the adults, “Sherry, your orange purse is on the table.” By the end of summer camp, he was starting to initiate dialogue with peers and I was able to dismiss him.
Back to school means many things, but for me it means I have another venue in which to watch and assess a child where he is comfortable and among familiar peers and adults. I just have to wait a little while until he is adjusted and it feels like home.
Most parents think of bubbles as a summer activity–kids chasing down the clear, multi-sized spheres to pop in delight. Certainly they are a great source of outside entertainment, but speech therapists use bubbles all year round and bubbles are one of the first things we bring out of our bags to engage a toddler or preschooler. There is something magical to a little one when a liquid becomes three dimensional. Bubbles can be used to gain attention, reward vocalizations, or for modeling certain sounds like “p” or “b” in “pop” and “bubble.” I can get a lot of language out of a child, just by holding back an action like opening the top of the bubble container. Kids just learning to talk, often vocalize something just to get me to continue my routine of getting ready to blow bubbles. For older kids, blowing bubbles strengthens oral motor muscles for speech, and encourages lip rounding.
When I attended “Time To Play’s Spring Showcase of Toys,” Their no-stain, no-dye, nontoxic bubbles really do work better and last longer in the air, which leads to more fun time and language expression. Here are some of the products that I liked for therapy and just plain fun:
“No-Spill Bubble Tumbler:” This is perfect for portable therapy and play since it really doesn’t spill, I like the one that has multiple wands so three kids can play at once.
“Jelly Belly Scented Bubbles:” Only a few inches long, this portable bubble toy holds scented bubbles for a child to blow.
“Big Bubble Friends” produce their own bubbles, so the child doesn’t benefit from the oral motor action of blowing their own bubbles, but my big cow was a load of fun. Tip back the head of the cow and as he lets out a “Mooooo,” a stream of bubbles is emitted and kids are mesmerized. Use the toy as a motivator, modeling sounds or words for them to repeat and rewarding them with a stream to chase. Toddlers and preschoolers loved this toy and played independently for up to 20 minutes.
Have a few of these portable bubble entertainers ready to delight kids summer or winter.
The opinions expressed in this review are soley those of the author. The above products were provided for review by “Little Kids’”
Here is a copy of my newsletter in case you aren’t on the distribution list:
Pretend play begins after a child’s first year as they offer an empty cup to a teddy bear or cover him up with a washcloth to stay warm. Little kids love to act out their everyday experiences, copy Mom and Dad and enter a land of pretend.
The next step is taking on a characters and dressing up. Usually, that has been left for the preschool set as they transform into pirates, fairies, firemen, or princesses. They love to act out characters seen in movies, books or in their everyday experience of going to the doctor, buying groceries or playing in the park. At three years of age, children are capable of more abstract thought and can generate elaborate stories to act out as they rule a kingdom, chase the monster, or live in fairy land. Kids practice dialogue, bravely enter new worlds and learn to negotiate with other children as they decide on the story line, costumes, props, and solve problems.
Younger siblings want to get into the act, watching big brother and sister. When it is time to try on the costumes, toddlers trip over the longer costumes and can’t keep up. The newest costumes from Jakks Pacific are designed for the 2 year-old and up so younger brothers and sisters can join the dress-up play and not be dragging the costume behind them.
Buzz Lightyear is timely as “Toy Story 3″ was just released and little boys want to blast off to save the toys of the world. Sized for the smaller set, the soft top has enough padding to puff out Buzz’s chest for extra strength, a red button to activate his wings (kids’ arms), and a shiny purple hood for fast blasting. Silver trim on the pants streamline the flight,
Buzz’s constume was slipped on first thing in the morning over pajamas! When I saw my little friend breeze by, I pressed his red button and Will’s arms shot up, ready for takeoff “to infinity and beyond!” Comfortable for takeoffs and landings, this costume took a little boy through rescues and adventures, tumbles and flights.
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Buzz Lightyear costume” was provided for review by Jakks Pacific .
When parents and therapists model conversation in pretend play, kids start to imitate them and learn to take turns in conversation with their little toy pets or people.
Caroline’s mom had asked me what things she could be doing with 2 year-old Caroline to build language during play time. I told her to take a toy figure and and talk to the figure that Caroline was holding to model a conversation. Caroline has learned the art of conversing. I gave her some cute dog characters, called Randy Candy and Coco Coconut from PetCakes, stuffed dogs with a cupcake home and frosting tops. Caroline immediately took to the characters, grabbed one, gave me the other and commanded, “Talk!” She wanted me to start the conversation. My dog, Randy, said, “Hi,” and hers responded. Then she said, “You have a cherry on top,” which indeed he did on the top of his frosted head. I asked Coco what she would 
like to do and she said, “Eat a tea party,” so we proceeded to the little doll table where Caroline offered sprinkle cookies.
Kids learn to take turns conversationally but also expand the story telling as they request and comment to their pretend friends, whether they are a stuffed animal or Fisher Price little people character. When your child is carrying a favorite dinosaur, snake or Barbie, start up a conversation with the friend and see how your child responds. At first, you might need to model both sides of the conversation to give them the idea of how it works.
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Petcakes” were provided for review by Well Made Toy Manufacturing Corporation.”
Maybe I am a little sensitive to stories about triumphs with babies since I am visiting my latest newborn grandchild. I am always amazed at God’s creation in such a tiny form and the love you feel for them instantly.
My son sent me the video of little eight-month-old Jonathon who was deaf and received a cochlear implant. The video records his hearing his first sounds. He turns to his mother, stops sucking on his pacifier and smiles at her, watching her face and listening to her voice for the first time. What a miracle.
Celebrate little miracles in your day today.
When I was visiting 3 year-old Will, he requested that we have a “scavenger hunt.” Now I have been known for my “candy hunts” I conduct on family vacations where I send kids off with a set of clues to find the final tin can of candy. But, I wondered how Will knew what a scavenger hunt was. It turns out that he has been watching “Dinosaur Train,” a clever kids’ show that teaches about plants and animals from the dinosaur age through a set of interesting clues delivered in rhyme.
On the left are my clues. Next time I will give them in rhyme but I wanted Will to be able to “read” them. The final clue, “Go to the Rescue Center” is a little blurred because it was hidden in the bath tub! Will loved the adventure of going up and down floors and finding his clues to his prize. Try making up clues that rhyme, leave off the last word and let your child guess the rhyming word. Now it becomes a literacy activity too.
What stories do you have about kids bridging the information from a TV show to their experience? Share them below.
I get this question a lot. Just yesterday I was at a house and the mom asked me whether she should be concerned about her 3 year-old Eli’s speech. I asked about specific sounds, saying he should be able to say, t,d,p,b,m,n,w, but other sounds aren’t established until he is older, like s,l,r.
Often, parents are expecting too much of a preschooler–that he should be speaking perfectly and understood all of the time. The fact is, he isn’t expected to correctly produce all sounds yet and we shouldn’t correct him or call attention to the mispronunciations or he might feel like he isn’t a good communicator, and even start talking less.
In the case of Eli’s mom, she was noticing that he was mispronouncing sounds that she knew he could say. Mom said, “He says, nilk for milk, and I know he can say “m”. Sure enough, little Eli said he wanted more “nilk.” Sometimes kids hang on to random words that they have mispronounced since they were little and even though they are capable of saying those sounds, the word persists for a while. In this case, continue to affirm him with, “Yes, MMMilk.” Emphasize the mispronounced sound in your own speech. Later when you are brushing teeth or playing around, make some fun sounds and include the “m” with a few “milks” thrown in.
Never draw attention to these sounds that your preschooler can’t make. Maybe they are in a word as a blend which is much harder to say and will take a while for him to learn. If you are still concerned, find a speech language therapist through your school system, ASHA’s website or your pediatrician’s recommendations.
I have several parents who encourage me with their application of ideas that I have taught them. I am always trying to teach parents what to look for in a toy that builds language and how to set up great toys so a child can narrate stories and play creatively.
Yesterday I was with one of my favorite moms who shows me she “gets it!” She had bought two little vehicles from the “Cars” collection–the helicopter and mail truck. She and her son had been playing with them before I arrived. She mentioned that they didn’t come with people which is one of my first criteria for an effective language toy. Children need people, animals or figures that they an animate to get the conversation going. They practice dialogue, taking turns, formulating sentences and questions and narrate solving problems.
This mom stated that there weren’t any people that came with the truck so they made their own. I looked over at the truck and there was a stick man drawn on a little piece of paper, sitting int he driver’s seat! If only toys manufacturers were so ardent about providing people for kids to play with.
