How to Ignite Your Child's Creativity & Why It's Important

On-Demand Class · Parenting

The class includes 7 short sessions that will inspire you to ignite your child's creativity. Each session focuses on a different aspect of creativity - offering information, guidance, and lots of strategies to motivate and reinforce creative expression.

Class Description

The sessions that comprise this class pertain to the following topics: understandings of creativity and why it matters; how creativity develops; applying creativity to daily life; determining if your child's efforts are creative; why some children struggle with creativity and what to do about it; best environments for nurturing creativity; and key strateigies and take-aways for encouraging and supporting children's creativity. Each session features colorful slides with relevant pointers that are extended through the narrative. All the material in this class is grounded in evidence-based research, and the content is presented in ways that invite exploration of possibilities for fortifying creativity at home, school, and elsewhere. Discover scores of practical strategies and ideas that will stoke your imagination, and help you cultivate creative experiences and outlets for your child.

Class Materials

Please bring your open-mindedness and creative energy.

Sessions Overview

  1. Session 1 - How can creativity enhance your child's development and well-being?: This first session is about why creativity is important, and how it can enhance your child's learning and enrich your family's life. Discover 10 reasons to embrace creativity and make it a priority.
  2. Session 2 - How does creativity develop?: In this second session the focus is on what underlies creativity. We consider the ways in which it develops, what considerations to keep top of mind, and what to encourage at home and elsewhere.
  3. Session 3 - Understandings of creativity and applications for daily life: The third session in this class is about understandings of creativity, and its impact on daily life. We look at actions, attitudes, and windows of opportunity, and we consider many proactive steps parents and children can take to strengthen creative experiences.
  4. Session 4 - Are your child's efforts creative?: How do you know if your child's efforts are creative? Can creativity be measured? How can parents offer praise? Guidance? Support? These are some of the topics we discuss in this fourth session of the class on igniting children's creativity.
  5. Session 5 - What if children struggle with creativity?: In this fifth segment of the class, we look at reasons why some children struggle with creativity, and what to do about it. We consider what to reinforce, and we discuss prickly circumstances and possible impediments, as well as strategies for overcoming barriers to creative expression.
  6. Session 6 - Best environments for nurturing children's creativity: In this session we discuss 8 different contexts for nurturing children's creativity - while paying attention to your own family's priorities and dynamic.
  7. Session 7 - How can parents support and encourage children's creativity?: What inspires children to be creative? In his seventh and final segment of the class, we focus on 10 strategies including proactive engagement, key questions to ponder, connections, organization, fun, and several other factors that are integral to nurturing children's creativity.

Your Instructor

Joanne Foster

Dr. Joanne Foster is a parent, teacher, gifted education consultant, and the multiple award-winning author of 7 books. Her involvement in different areas of child development and optimal learning spans over 30 years, and she has worked in a variety of capacities offering guidance and up-to-date resources to parents, educators, school administrators, policy makers, professionals, and others. Areas of focus include gifted/high-level development, creativity, motivation, procrastination, and children's well-being. Dr. Foster gives keynotes, webinars, podcasts, and presentations in various forums to benefit children and families worldwide. She has presented to audiences across Canada, throughout the United States, and in New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands, and elsewhere. She taught Educational Psychology for many years in the Teacher Education Program at The University of Toronto, where she also served as the Gifted Liaison for the broader community. Her writing is regularly featured in parenting magazines and online platforms—including The Creativity Post, First Time Parent Magazine, and Best Version Media Magazines. She continues to advocate for children’s learning opportunities, proactively networking with schools and parent organizations, and researching and sharing information about important educational and child development issues. Her books BEING SMART ABOUT GIFTED LEARNING (3RD EDITION), and BEYOND INTELLIGENCE: SECRETS FOR RAISING HAPPILY PRODUCTIVE KIDS were co-authored with Dona Matthews. Dr. Foster is the sole author of NOT NOW, MAYBE LATER: HELPING CHILDREN OVERCOME PROCRASTINATION and BUST YOUR BUTS: TIPS FOR TEENS WHO PROCRASTINATE; as well as ABCS OF RAISING SMARTER KIDS: HUNDREDS OF WAYS TO INSPIRE YOUR CHILD. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

Degrees and Certifications

Ed.D. - Doctoral Degree in Human Development and Applied Psychology M.Ed. - Masters Degree in Special Education and Adaptive Instruction Specialist Certification in Gifted Education Experience - teacher, gifted consultant, enrichment program coordinator, university instructor, author

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