Did you know that 60% of adults wish that they have pursued their goals as a child? More than half of them mentioned that they regret not working towards their childhood dreams. It is a common scenario, but it makes us wonder why this happens. If you are a parent, you might want to think about how you can prevent your child from going through the same dilemma.
One way to do this is to ensure that they get enough support and the right guidance. If you ever observe that your child is passionate about a particular craft, you need to show approval and appreciation. You need to ensure that you help your child hone their talents by embracing his creativity and passion.
A Child’s Passion and Creativity
Children’s creativity starts the moment they become aware of their surroundings. They display creativity while playing with their toys, coloring in books, or drawing on a notebook. They continue to explore activities that feel new to them. Their desire to create starts at home and continue to increase when they start school. Unfortunately, some parents decide to let their children focus on their studies during this time. They begin to focus on making sure that their child performs better in school. That is a great practice. However, parents should also not forget that there are other important things than academic success. Your child is still learning, so you have to let them continue exploring their creativity.
Fueling a Child’s Creativity
As a supportive parent, you want what’s best for your child. If you want to boost their creativity and passion, here are a few ways to do it:
- Allow them to fail—Indeed, it’s wonderful if you see your child’s excellent performance. However, there will be times when they fail to deliver their best. For instance, your child loves singing. However, they felt so nervous that they didn’t hit the right notes during the actual performance. It’s best to teach them how to accept the situation. Instead of making them feel worse by shaming their performance, make sure that you encourage them to practice more so that they can become a better singer.
- Teach them to be self-reliant—Show support, but make sure that you put some boundaries. For instance, if they want to learn to play the piano, you can enroll your child to take piano lessons. However, they should be able to learn how to improve their piano skills by studying on their own. Don’t always give them what he needs. Teach your child to explore possible solutions on their own.
- Provide materials and other resources that they need—You have to show support to your child by providing them with the right materials. Teach yourself to ask questions, such as “What is 2nd-grade writing worksheets?” or “What other materials do I need to support my child’s passion for writing?”. Asking these types of questions can help you think of more ways to support your child’s crafts.
Being a supportive parent is not all about praising all your child’s achievements. It’s also about appreciating all the little things they do. Your child’s talents and skills may be weak for now. However, if you remain supportive, they may be able to continue improving their crafts.
Avoid forcing your child to abandon their passion. Some parents may think it’s impractical to let a child continue doing things because they think their child won’t gain anything from it. It may seem like they are saving their child from failure. However, most of the time, this only restrains their creative mind. If you don’t believe they could be great, they will start to doubt their abilities. When this happens, they will look for another “passion” because they lose confidence in pursuing their initial goal. Make sure that your child will remain confident about themselves. This way, they won’t hesitate to keep improving their chosen crafts as they grow up.