A sense of creativity will aid a child throughout their life as they develop relationships, find a career, or even just explore the world around them. Unlike hard skills such as math or a new language, creativity is often seen as a soft skill that is much more difficult to nurture. Parents that want the best for their children should take a look at these 10 ways they might be able to spark their child’s creativity and curiosity as they continue to grow older.

Practice Suspending Judgment

People that are highly judgmental of others often feel as if they are being judged themselves, and this can quickly stifle a child’s creativity. Parents must teach them to reserve judgment as much as possible and to approach each new relationship with an open mind.

Give Them Freedom

While parents will obviously need to set certain boundaries in order to protect their children, they should give them as many opportunities as possible to make personal choices. Even small steps such as letting them dress themselves or deciding what activities they will do after school will help them find their own inner creativity.

Continue to Challenge Them

Children that are no longer being challenged will shut down the creative side of their brain. It is always a good idea to provide them with challenging activities and ideas, especially during long breaks from school when boredom might quickly set in.

Allow Them to Disagree

There is a time and place in which children should be allowed to disagree with a parent or explore a different path to come to the same conclusion. Parents should continue to present their children with subjects that they can disagree on instead of them immediately adopting the opinions of those around them.

Ask Them to Teach You Something

Being a competent teacher is one of the most difficult skill sets that anyone can develop and it requires a high level of creativity. Asking a child to teach their parent or an older sibling a new skill or subject will force them to think outside of box and rethink the world around them.

Expose Children to New Thoughts and Activities

One of the best ways to continue cultivating a child’s creativity is to constantly expose them to new situations, activities, ideas, and skills. If the child has been spending much of their time reading or painting, then a parent may want to think about enrolling them in a sport or other outdoor activity to see how well they adapt.

Learn From Success and Failures

Even if a child does fail at something they have attempted, it is important for parents to help them learn something from the experience. Any time a child tries something new, it is a good idea to ask them how they liked it, what worked, and what they could have changed to make it better.

Don’t Fixate on Perfection

Practically anyone that focuses on perfection is not going to be able to think freely. It should be modeled to children that imperfection is a part of life and a fear of failure is often worse than failure itself.

Have Children Set Goals

Every time that a child starts a new project, parents can have them write down or tell them what their goals will be for that project. Just as with adults, setting and meeting goals is incredibly important for a person’s growth.

Parents Should Be a Safe Haven

One of the most important steps of cultivating creativity is ensuring that children feel as if they have someplace that they can be safe. It is absolutely vital that children see their parents as a “home base” where they can continue to draw strength as needed.

Everyone is born with a sense of creativity and curiosity. For many parents, their only job will be nurturing and cultivating that natural creativity as their child’s mind develops.