Hahaa! Very entertaining!

The interesting thing and most important thing is to nourish the young folks their creativity, which is more important than nourishing their bodies.

Today's games, toys for the kiddies are mostly passive in nature. They don't require brain activities much.

dcarch

Those are very clever, although they'd take way more patience than I'd ever have. I thought I was being creative by cutting my girls' sandwiches into shapes with a star shaped cookie cutter when they were in school, LOL, and making Bud's pancakes look kind of like a Monster Truck.

As for today's activities for children I'm more concerned that there is no physical activity required. Of course, I'm not creative or artistic at all, I'm more realistic and seldom notice how items look on my plate (or my walls, which drives Ashley crazy).

I can tell you that even shaped like a Ninja there is no way Bud would eat Nutella, he detests the stuff and Makayla could not be convinced that nori was edible, even when she was two. I know, I tried to get her to taste sushi, and it didn't go well, even when I told her it was exotic and from another land, far away. I guess they're realistic too, rather than creative.

Annie

I think the food is fun. All of our kids and now the grands would love something like that for lunch. Actually, they sort of create their own fun images as long as they're not told, "don't play with your food!". lol

I believe we're all born creative. How that creativity develops has more to do with whether it's nurtured, or not.

My DH is a good example. His parents discouraged creativity and turned every activity into a chore. Result? DH would not practice his music lessons. DH would not attempt to learn a foreign language and avoided majors in college that required such. DH would get angry when he tried a new skill and wasn't perfect right away saying he, "just wasn't creative" or not good enough. Etc. etc.

I was raised differently. My Dad was strict but stressed creativity and patience. When I became too ill to play my piano any more, DH missed the music in our home. One day I said to him, "Rather than complaining about what I can no longer do for you why don't you learn to play yourself?!" To my surprise, he said, "I'd love it if you'd teach me." That was almost 3 years ago (will be in January). He has been diligent with his practice and there is beautiful music in our home again. Suddenly through his own effort he's become "creative" and has started listening to Scott Houston and learning to adlib his own riffs. I love listening to him, smiling, and remembering how he grouched, "I can't do that." Creativity is just a skill like any other. It needs to be nurtured, practiced, and used. Some are born a couple jumps ahead of the rest of us but I really believe we are all full of creativity.

I lost my art supplies in Sandy. I said there was no need to replace since I can't even write now much less draw. He purchased new anyway. I see what's coming...DH wants to try charcoal. He's not fooling anyone! :) I've been planning how I'm going to encourage and teach him a bit about perspective and shading and ratios... (grin)

A few years ago, I was watching one of my 5 grandsons play. He was fiddling around with action figures. He'd pretend to have a "war". But, I noticed there was a rhythm to the way he had each figure interact. He made "boy" noises along with his "battles". I told my DS & DIL - get that boy a trap set - SOON. Now, two year later he plays drums in church every Sunday. He's now 10 years old. My Yamaha Clavinova (the first thing replaced in our home after Sandy) can be set to become a full drum set. DGS pounds away on it whenever he's here. He's good. My almost 13 year old DGD is an accomplished pianist and uses the piano to express her emotions rather than acting them out. Listening to her it's easy to tell her mood. She's also getting very good with her violin. She started her own henna tattoo business a year ago. No lessons in music or art. I did get DGS a few basic drum lessons since I don't play and didn't have a clue how to get him started. I think it was six lessons and he's been on his own since.

Encourage creativity wherever you see it. It's everywhere if you look.

/tricia

Tricia, every parent, grandparent, uncle, and aunt should read what you just wrote.

Creativity brings a life time of joy.

dcarch

DC, you are so correct. "Creativity brings a lifetime of joy."

DH has told me a hundred times, "Thank you for teaching me to play piano!" He will have that skill and enjoyment for the remainder of his life. But it was not "I" who did the work to be creative...it was DH. Even I who can no longer physically play will frequently lay awake at night and mentally play a piece of music in my head.

/tricia

Well, perhaps, but I still don't care about music, after 2 years I still haven't learned to use the iPod that Elery put all my CDs on when my CD player quit. So, I just don't listen to music because it's too much trouble trouble to mess with and frankly, I don't miss it. I packed up all the CDs and stored them in the tool shed at the barn. Don't miss the noise of TV either. Elery cannot believe that I don't even care if I listen to music. I don't really have to anyway, he's got some noise or another going all the time. I think silence is far underrated...

I still don't care what the food looks like on my plate or if I have pictures on the wall either (as evidenced by my sand dune and white living room with new paint and new carpet and not one single thing on any of the walls). That drives Ashley crazy, but Amanda is like me and sees absolutely nothing wrong with a blank wall.

So, both girls took band and music lessons. Amanda will never pick up her saxophone again and doesn't want it, Ashley still plays guitar, keyboard, banjo, flute. Both girls took art classes. Amanda has pictures of the kids on the wall and that's good enough, and Ashley's home is very modern with paintings (some of which she has done herself) and vases of stuff. Both girls took gymnastics, dance lessons and were in athletics. Neither care about any of those things now.

So, two girls raised in the same home by the same mother with the same opportunities. One is very "artsy" and the other is very realistic. I do think creativity should be encouraged and that children should be exposed to whatever is available, from ballet to wrestling and hockey, but some of us have absolutely no interest. Others do, and that's fine. I can admire it in someone else without having to subject myself to the actual process of doing it, whether it be crafts, photography or food. Children and adults shouldn't be pushed to "do something creative" if they aren't interested but they should be willing to try long enough to see if they do like it.

For some of us, creativity brings a lifetime of frustration, rather than one of joy, as we try to care about "pretty" food and decorative things that only represent something else to dust.

Everyone is not alike and doesn't care about the same things. That's a good thing, I think, everyone doesn't have to like or be good at the same things, or even at everything. I'm actually pretty good at cleaning barns (which a lot of people would never consider doing given any other choice) and I guarantee that Amanda would never consider making a Nutella ninja, but Ashley might.

My original point, though, was that no matter how pretty or creative, if your kid doesn't like the food they aren't going to be fooled into eating it no matter how much you mess around with it.

Annie

Ah, but...Annie, I believe you are not giving value to your own creativity. Your garden, salsa, home smoked bacon, grass fed beef, breads, etc. are all an expression of creativity to me. Expressions such as "The Art of Bread Baking" give credence to your creativity. I am also a realist and very pragmatic. That does not exclude my creative natures. Why heck, the Dutch Masters and other still life painters/photographers work in realism. Even in business there is creativity - gosh, if it weren't for creative financing we might not have enjoyed the past several years of the Great Recession. (sarcastic grin) lol Creativity is everywhere. Even if you do not recognize it - you are filled with creativity.

/tricia

Tricia, I totally agree.

Creativity takes many forms, some more glamorous them others. Some more important than others.

The discovery of the Theory of Relativity is of immense importance, but not as much fun as the creation of the George Forman grill.

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Fri, Aug 23, 13 at 7:50