How to nurture your resident tween’s creativity
Congratulations! You’ve officially been gifted with a creative teen or tween. In addition to reminding them to actually eat their meals (and not just make admittedly cute art out of their peas and potatoes), you’ve been tasked with the honour of encouraging them to explore their precious creativity.
… But where do you begin?
After all, you already do so much FOR your creative cutie. There are art classes, iPad purchases, special supplies and way too many petrol pit-stops to cover the never-ending chauffeuring. Yet, how much time do you spend with your young creative doing things they enjoy? Yep. Hey, mumma guilt. If you’re in the same boat and can’t remember the last time you connected with your little one creatively, I’ve got you.
Encouraging your tween or teen to explore their creativity doesn’t have to be another thing you do for them; it can be something you do WITH them – and that the two of you actually have a whole lot of fun doing! And, nope, you don’t have to be a bona fide creative to enjoy it, either. You might not have an artistic bone in your body (and even be slightly bemused as to how you managed to birth such a creative child), and you can still nurture your tween’s creativity and bond with them at the same time.
But if you’re unsure where to begin and what to do, keep reading. I promise it’s going to be easy.
Your step-by-step guide to connecting with your young creative
Step one: Commit
I know, I know. You’re already full to your busy brain with commitments. But the first and sometimes hardest step when it comes to connecting with your young creative is to commit to carving out time to spend with them.
Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be a huge chunk of time or a meticulously organised event. You can set aside half an hour to grab a smoothie and go for a walk on the weekend and encourage them to observe their environment for inspiration. Short, sweet and consistent is better than inconsistent and overwhelming.
Step two: Discover
Once you have a creative date scheduled into your calendar (even if it’s flexible for the time being), your next job is to discover your teen’s creative zone. Every teen is unique, and your young creative will have individual interests and gifts.
To hone in on what their special creative zone might be, think about the things that they love doing and the areas they excel in. Talk with them, observe their room, what they like to wear, the posters on their wall, the stationery they love using, and (if they have it) what they share on social media and who they follow. All these things will be little clues guiding you in the direction of their creative dreams.
Step three: Opportunity
Next, you’re going to gather everything you’ve learned and create opportunities for your young creative to enjoy and practice their gifts. But, and here’s the key, you aren’t just going to drop them off at another pottery class and then grab a cappuccino or catch up on some work while you wait. Nope, this time you’re going to do it WITH them. Whether it’s at home, classes together outside of home, or something online, you’ll be right by the side to connect and create with them.
But remember you don’t need to be a creative pro to make this work. You aren’t there to teach them how to become a budding designer; you’re there to open the door and support them to explore their creative gifts.
Stuck for ideas? You can:
- Whip out your iPad and draw portraits of each other in Procreate.
- Invest in some wool and begin a co-knitting adventure together (yarn bombing, anyone)?
- Encourage them to create a quote poster on Canva for their room, you can help them look up quotes that inspire and fill them with positivity 🥰.
- Take a photo and work together to pull colours from it to create their own personal colour palette.
- Visit your local art gallery and talk about what art they are most drawn to and why.
- Help them create their dream bedroom, using our Room Goals mood board tutorial.
- Or support them to research online and discover other creatives that inspire them.
Step four: Inspiration
I know firsthand that one of the biggest obstacles as a creative looking to harness their creativity, is to feel inspired to take action. I’ve always been very inspired by nature – in fact I’d say it’s the place I feel MOST inspired. So whenever I get stuck with my design work or passion projects, I head outside to refill my creative cup with nature’s inspiration.
You can do the same for your young creative by exposing them to inspiration and beauty through nature. Or, if they’re not outdoorsy, why not go on a daytrip together to a museum or a theme park? You can also borrow your own inspirations, whatever they may be, and share them with your young creative. This can be a great way to bond while giving them the tools they need to create consistently!
Step five: Support and encourage
Being creative can be scary sometimes – especially when you’re just getting started. Which is why it’s important that you create a safe space for your young creative where they can explore their creativity without any fear of rejection or judgment.
You can offer advice, encouragement, praise and constructive criticism (without taking over control) to show that you’re present, engaged and interested in what they’re doing. Your young creative needs verbal affirmation from you more than anyone else, so give it to them and acknowledge what they have achieved.
Then? It’s just a matter of repeating steps one to five regularly! That’s it. Told you it’d be easy!
Graduated from this guide and want plant the seeds for your young creative’s future?
Sign up HERE to grab our Creative Spark Resource Sheet, your go-to list to help support, inspire and ignite creativity in your young creative!
Pssst. Don’t forget to check out our other free resources as well!
