7 ways to a CREATIVE DAY

FINDING WAYS TO SPARK YOUR LITTLE ONE’S IMAGINATION IS CHILD’S PLAY

1 FANTASY WAKE-UP

Flick the light switch as you announce that the bedroom has been transformed into someplace other than a bedroom. An aquarium. A bowl of jelly. A bunny cage. A cloud. Then ask your child to imagine waking up there: “How do you think someone would wake up in a rowing boat?”

2 THEME IT

Today is … Space Day! Cheer-up Day! Bright Colour Day! Send your kid to their wardrobe to interpret the theme any way they want to. Now instead of doing a job – getting dressed – they’re creating something. Whatever you do, don’t become the fashion police. Nothing crushes a budding fashionista more quickly than a parent saying, “Are you sure you want to wear that?”.

3 TURN THE TABLES

Try letting your child dress you (which now means letting go of what you think you’re supposed to wear). That doesn’t mean you squeeze into a bikini for daycare drop off just because your little one pulled it from your bottom drawer though! In that case, say, “It might be too cold out for that. What could I wear that might keep me warm?”. That way they come up with a better solution.

4 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

Make this one a physical challenge: how do you get out of the house without someone seeing you? Without walking on the carpet? Without using your hands? It’s not enough just to say it … you have to do it too!

5 GROUP STORY

Whether there’s one kid in the car or a whole gaggle, start a story (“Once upon a time, there were five ninjas on their way to the beach …”) and then say, “Next!”. One person then jumps in to add the next sentence in the story, says “Next!” and so on. One rule: No editing!

6 MAKE-UP CLEAN-UP

Any time you can add a level of fantasy play, you have the chance to fire up your child’s imagination. So, you’re not just a family cleaning up before bedtime, you’re running a restaurant, or having a fancy party, or preparing for an alien invasion.

7 WISH UPON A STAR

Bedtime might be time to wind down, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stoke their imagination. Sending a wish into the world when saying good night. I wish … dinosaurs would come back to life, I had eyes on my toes. This way, your child ends their day with one of the most creative things they can ever do – come up with a fantastical creative idea that’s all their own.