Editor The latest Zooboo story book ‘Finds a story’ is all about a little child trying to write a story for their school project. The child asks around at home, neighborhood as well as looks to the TV for inspiration for their story. The plot and ending of this book led us thinking about a few issues such as ‘original thinking’ and ‘authenticity’.
How many times do we come across children who are more than willing to mimic ideas from the internet/society? Are we also guilty of consciously or unconsciously guiding kids to follow a pre-planned path with no creativity of their own?
Research has shown that when parents focus on ‘teaching values’ v/s ‘rules’ and encourage kids to take ‘sensible risks’ that will allow them to try new things – such children grow up to be great contributors in the society.
Here are 5 simple things that YOU can do to try and inculcate the importance of original thinking, creativity, and authenticity in your young ones:
Tip #1 Encourage them to always read & remember the name of the author & the illustrator
This is something you can start even when kids are a few months old. Always make it a habit to read the name of the author & illustrator of the book before you begin reading it. This allows kids to understand that there is someone who has taken the effort to write and illustrate this book for them. That not all books are the same and there is a person is who thinking original ideas & is creatively presenting it for them.
Tip #2 Seek books with a moral
Along with picture books, try to also read out stories that have some moral attached to it. Doing this from an early age encourages kids to think about the values and consequences of their actions.
Tip #3 Encourage creativity in all forms
It is upto us what rules and conditioning we raise our kids with. Instead of giving them the rules of society, life and your personal set of rules, teach them the values behind it. Let them know what your family believes it and the reason behind it.
For example if you want them to clean their room, rather than saying ‘Clean your room’, say ‘This is why we as a family believe in a clean and neat environment. And this is why it’s a core value to keep our belongings neat.’
Tip #4 Guide with relativity rather than absolutes
If your child is drawing or painting an image of the sky, let them pick out the colours rather than giving it to them. And now if they happen to paint it pink & purple, will you tell them – The sky is blue, not pink. OR will you tell them – The sky can be blue, sometimes it can also be orange and at twilight, it can even be pink or purple!
Rather than saying ‘This is a stone’, say ‘This could be a stone, or it could be Y, or it could be Z, what do you think it is?’. This allows them to let their mind run free and fosters creative thinking. It helps ‘out of the box’ ideas.
Tip #5 Model ‘authenticity’ yourself
If you want to raise an honest citizen who is true to their self and stands against borrowed ideas and pirated/copied work then YOU need to model this behaviour too. Show them the importance of being original by being original yourself. Don’t download that song from the internet/unofficial source. Don’t buy a book unless its author is getting their due credit. Don’t quote an idea or phrase without mentioning the source you got it from. There are small ways that kids are observing us & what we say, do & talk makes an impact.
If you want your kids to be inspired to write their own story or do some original thinking then try this NEW personalized storybook by Zooboo called ‘Finds a story’.
Personalize it with your kids name & character & enjoy Rs. 300 off. Use code STORY
