Are kids’ toys too processed? Do they invite creativity or do the job for them?
“Necessity is the mother of innovation.”
Parents want to give their children everything they can … but should they consider giving them less? Is modern children’s play too processed?
The presenter, Stephen Hall takes a minute or three to get to his point, but his emphasis on parenting and inspiring our children to be creative by giving them less is awesome. The less our children need, the less they may express their intuitive creativity.
I read once that around 93% of children are rated as creative when they are 3 years old, but by the time these same children are 18 years old, only 15% or so are rated as highly creative. As a country, we have dug ourselves into a hole by developing an educational system based on uniformity and conformity.
In most grade schools, Art and Physical Education are only taught once per week. We are so focused on Literature, History and the Sciences that most adults are now walking around “Physically Illiterate” and with what I call “Right Brain Amnesia.”
I spend every fitness coaching session with every client of every age restoring their ability to walk backwards, march, squat, kneel and bend over – all “Natural Physical Abilities” we were blessed with and able to do as children. Our modern lifestyle is dumbing down our bodies – are we doing the same to our natural creativity?
It is up to parents to reverse this trend. Parenting is such an awesome blessing, opportunity and challenge – I hope you enjoy this 18 minute discussion on ways to inspire creativity in your children, athletes and students.
A few quotes that stand out to me from the video:
We are creative when we need to be creative.
Kids do not call it creativity. They call it “let’s pretend.”
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein
Kids these days are physically illiterate.
Give kids less, so they need more.
Creativity is a muscle – but too often atrophied.
Play is a little bit like food – the less processed it is, the more healthy it is. Aim for a balanced play diet.
From the YouTube description:
This video was published on Oct 3, 2013
Stephen challenges us to think differently about our role as parents. With a deep exploration of the meaning of creativity, invention and innovation, Stephen helps us re-imagine the role we have in helping develop the fundamentals of creativity.
