Watching Creativity Develop

The last few months Emily’s creativity is starting to become amazingly fun to watch. I love sitting from the sidelines as she comes up with her own ideas and spends loads of time carrying out her plans.

A few weeks ago after we had cleaned up her room a little bit, she and Nathan stood by her window for a long time.  They had a handful of allen wrenches and Emily was telling Nathan a story with them.  When I passed by again Emily invited me to go outside to see her puppet show.  Nathan and I headed out on the sidewalk and looked at Emily’s two-story window for the show.  She invited me to take a turn, and we swapped back and forth a few times.

Emily spends hours making “chalk dust”.  At first she would just use a single piece of chalk, drawing in one spot until there is some build up and then brushing it with her hand.  Now she uses as many colors as she can, making layer upon layer of colors and “chalk dust”.  She often tells us she is making a map and invites us to join.  Nathan almost always jumps at the chance and both come in looking rather colorful.

I think a large part of this development has to do with a mom who is slowed to a stop and can’t provide activities or entertainment. I wonder how to preserve time and space for her now developing interests and talents when I am up and moving again, especially because she would rather join me in what I’m doing (a personality trait from day one, one Nathan doesn’t possess).

How do you maintain blocks of time during the day for kids to play and create their own ideas, especially those who prefer to be joining in with family activities all the time?