5 Ways to Raise Creative Children

• Encourage children to try new and different ways of doing things. Don't expect their artwork to look like a sample or like an adult's artwork. Don't tell them how it should look.

• Provide children with planned art activities as well as activities that they can do on their own. Set up an art center in the kitchen or family room where children have access to art materials.

• Build their confidence in their own abilities. If they ask you to do it for them, tell them you'd like to see how they would do it. Encourage them to create in "their own style."
  

• Emphasize the importance of the process more than the outcome. Ask questions like, "How did you do that?" and, "Can you think of a way to make that happen?" Comment on what they have done, "You created a very interesting color. How did you do that?"
  

• Display their artwork. Show that you value their creations.