“Where did he come up with that?” Kids often amaze us with their imaginative ideas, and we should give ourselves a pat on the back for playing a role in this development. Innovative thinking is essential for success in school and in life, and it’s our job as parents to nurture our kids’ innate desire to be creative. Inventive play fosters original thinking, an asset when children are confronted with new situations. By providing activities that use their creativity and imaginations, we are giving our children an important tool to deal with life down the road.

Give them ideas
Children come up with things to do on their own, but we also need to provide them with new ideas of interesting activities. Think back to what you did as a kid. Did you write a diary, create elaborate puppet shows, or sing and dance for relatives? Share ideas from your own childhood experiences. Offer creative writing ideas like writing an episode for a favorite television show or writing a new ending to a favorite story. Craft projects offer another outlet for inspiring imaginations. Craft kits, especially those from Curiosity Kits and ALEX, offer a wide variety of unusual and fun projects. They’ve brought us a long way from the sock puppets of our youth. These manufacturers offer ideas and supplies to make such things as scrapbooks, powerballs, soaps, candy, sun catchers, dolls, planes, dinosaurs, jewelry treasures, and lots of decorative items. Kids can gather ideas from the instructions, and then give the projects their own unique touches.

Keep ideas fresh
Pick up any parenting magazine and you’ll find lots of ideas to get those creative juices flowing in your kids. Search the web and check out craft stores. Keep a journal or file for magazine clippings and ideas as you find them. Stockpile so that you’ll know how to answer the whiny “I’m bored” call from your kids.

Give them freedom
Once you’ve given your kids some suggestions and supplies, step back and see which they choose and where they go with them. This unstructured play time gives kids an opportunity to stretch their creative muscles. Watch as they incorporate your ideas and branch out on their own.

Set an example
Chances are, if you are a creative person, your child will be too. You display creativity in your everyday activities like when you reason with a disgruntled child, change lyrics to songs, and maybe even do some interpretive dancing to entertain a toddler. Your children see your silliness and it rubs off on them. You surely use creativity to juggle your and your family’s schedules. It’s a great idea to point out to your kids how you use creativity in your daily life.

As parents, we always try to do the very best for our kids and provide opportunities that will help them mature into intelligent, capable adults. Nurturing their creative spirits helps them along this road. With their well-developed imaginations, maybe they’ll turn it into a yellow brick, pink polka-dotted road with sparkles!

About The Author
Susan Stump is the mother of two children and the owner of ChildCrafter, Co. – Craft Kits and Subscriptions that Inspire a Child’s Imagination. This work-at-home-mom offers a great selection of creative craft kits from ALEX, Quincrafts, and Curiosity Kits from her catalog and website www.childcrafter.com. Email her at childcrafter@yahoo.com.

If you’re looking for freshness and great taste, of course you can’t beat the vegetables from local farms. But have you ever stopped to think about the gas used in shipping those veggies from Chili, Florida, or wherever? Or the gas that is being burned by loud, obnoxious, emissions-belching trains, and roaring dangerous tractor-trailer rigs on the highway?

Living green is about making a lot of little choices to eliminate our impact on our environment. If more and more people make those little responsible choices, maybe we can eliminate a truck on the highway, or even a lot of trucks on the highway. We can make an impact in the area of noise pollution as well as air pollution and depletion of natural resources by banding together. Buying local is a prime example.

Another thing about buying local produce is that you can get to know your local producers. Many of these agrarian folks are similarly interested in making the greener, simpler choices in life. Many of them raise their food organically. Often, they can become sources for responsibly raised meat and dairy products, or can advise you about where you can find these products.

These producers often are also a source for home baked wholegrain breads and goodies as they try to supplement their family income. The children often participate by selling cookies or produce from their own little gardens, thus learning valuable business and people skills.

Not all of green living is about chemicals and scientific statistics. When we get to know and support our local farmers, our world becomes friendlier and more charitable. Local farmers often have a strong sense of faith and family. When we buy from them, we are helping to support a way of life that is traditional and wholesome, a way of life that is quickly becoming extinct as our cities grow and our pace of life quickens.

When you think about it, there is much more to buying local produce than getting a great tasting tomato. Environmentalists have been saying for years, “Think globally, act locally.” Supporting your local producers, whether through an organized Farmers’ Market, or stopping by that house with the homemade sign proclaiming “Eggs – $1 a dozen,” you are making a statement that you are in favor of a gentler, greener world for all.