Montessori Method To Encourage Children’s Creativity

For a child, life is a creative adventure, and they often demonstrate this through drawings and doodles that adults don’t understand. The Montessori method suggests that before criticizing a peculiar design, we must give the child the encouragement they need to follow their path with freedom.

Daniel Goleman, in his book “The creative spirit”, explains the case of a child a little over 10 years old, who told his mother that he needed to make a “horror short” for school. The mother then bought red cherry marmalade and began to soil the cupboards. He then handed her a camera and allowed her to use his room as a film studio. That child was Steven Spielberg .

It is a simple example of the power that adults have if they are able to act as facilitators and not as “wing clippers”, something that often happens in traditional schools, where the pleasure of learning is not encouraged. The pressure and the search for perfection suffocate the joy, the fantasy…

We invite you to discover all the benefits of the Montessori method.

Montessori Method, fun schools that work

Currently, near Milan, Italy, there is a small school called “Régio-Emilia”, which is more than 40 years old and uses the Montessori method of creativity and Piaget’s theory on the evolutionary changes of children. The results obtained are simply wonderful.

Teachers and education specialists significantly value this educational center which is known as “the fun school or play school”. This school involves children between the ages of 2 and 6 who benefit from many activities. They work outdoors with various materials: they draw, model, solve puzzles, visit museums and, above all, satisfy the natural curiosity of children in this very important period of their lives.

An essential aspect of the Régio-Emilia school is the involvement of parents. It was created after World War II, where it was once an old cinema. Families knew very well what they wanted; they wanted to give the world free children capable of transforming reality. Creativity is ultimately the gift of thinking freely while having fun, so they adopted the Montessori method.

How to apply the Montessori method of creativity at home

Surely you have been surprised by a strange drawing of your child or any other child, who proudly shows you their art. Our limited and objective adult gaze will rarely be able to understand why a person has 10 legs (the child will say he is dancing) or why in this drawing the father is smaller than the mother (perhaps he is angry at the father).

Don’t criticize children’s drawings, make fun of their crazy ideas, or clip their wings to tie them to the pole of logic and control. Encourage and enhance your creativity; it will be a powerful weapon in the future.

Keys to enhance children’s creativity

The first thing we need to understand is that a child is not a miniature adult. However, they are professionals at experimenting and proving different things, at making mistakes and learning from mistakes, at seeing the world through play. We don’t want them to “grow up before their time”, let them play, laugh and discover the world with joy.

• Understand that the creative potential is much greater in childhood. Neurologists say that a preteen’s brain waves are richer in theta waves than an adult’s. These waves are related to the ability to dream, to create, to innovate…
• To stimulate children’s creativity, we need to be able to suggest things without exercising control. It is better to encourage creativity than “strength”. Avoid criticism, comparisons, pointing out mistakes rather than qualities, and you will provide children with freedom, security and pleasure.

A curious fact that we noticed in all the families who were able to encourage creativity in their children from an early age is that they discovered, over time, that these children had a natural talent for a certain activity.

All a child needs is to feel safe, to see themselves as a person who is free to explore the world, but very much loved by their families. Phrases such as “you can’t”, “you don’t know”, “you will never get anywhere” are not allowed in the Montessori method.

It takes the encouragement and vital energy that only the sincere love and trust of parents can offer their children.