narthex, not bothering anybody, and then one of his parents discourages
him by saying, “Come here,” when the child isn’t going anyplace anyway.
I feel sorry for both the child and the parent. Let the kid go. Let him
explore. As long as he isn’t intruding on another’s space or tranquility,
relax!
During toddlerhood, wise parents excite their children by showing
enthusiasm about exploring and understanding the world. A parent might
blow on a mobile: “What makes that go around?” And, looking at a
candle, “Wow, when that gets hot, it bubbles.” Toddlers love learning
how to work the buttons on the DVD player and the TV. They want to
know how high they can stack blocks and how cream mixes with coffee
when it is stirred. Curiosity and creativity wind around each other. Wise
parents are forever saying, “Wow, look at that! How does that work?”
Discipline, as we said in the beginning, is an essential element for
happiness with the curious child. Only discipline leads to a joyful
exploring of the environment that is fun for both parent and child. It’s
only enjoyable to have a toddler explore the waiting room or narthex if he
will come when called, and only fun to have a child watch how coffee
mixes with cream if he respects the adult’s wishes that he not grab the
cup. Recently, I (Foster) was in a home where the kids were designing the
Snake River Drainage Basin all over the kitchen floor. I asked their
mother about the watery mess the kids were making in front of the
refrigerator and stove, and she laughed, saying, “Well, the kitchen floor is
made to be wet. And it works because they clean it up as soon as I ask!”
Encouraging Creativity in Early Childhood
The easiest way to encourage creativity in early childhood is to deep-six
the TV. But that’s almost impossible for young parents who grew up with
TV themselves during their formative years. But it is probably sufficient
to say that all children should spend more time doing something at home
than watching something. The following is a partial list of how parents
have encouraged creativity in early childhood:
• Use a thrift shop as your toy store and buy clocks and all