“Picky Eaters Hate This One Simple Trick”: 50 Parenting Hacks People Wish They Knew Sooner (New Pics)

Creativity is truly a great skill to have under the belt when parenting. It helps find solutions to various childcare challenges, which makes raising kids significantly easier. 

“Creativity is a vital skill that new parents learn very quickly. We all do this to a different degree,” says transgender dad of six, Logan Blackburn-Issitt, who also runs the Dad Business parenting blog. 

"Parenting is a creative venture by nature! Building a life involves a balance of values and aesthetics that require creative thinking always!" agrees parenting coach and founder of Be Kind Coaching, MegAnne Ford.

"I find that the happiest parents are some of the most creative and open in their approach. Too rigid in practice and they become authoritarian and strict in nature- no room for anything new. And too fluid in approach means lots of chaos and movement—that nothing sticks or dries—like a goopy mess of paint without a canvas to stick to. So striking a balance of appropriate structure and flow requires a parent to be creative in their approach," she explains.

Blackburn-Issitt also notes that the real skill is matching the creativity to the child's personality. “Whether it's pulling faces to get your one-year-old to lie still for a nappy change or using a blender to hide the veggies. Sometimes it's a lack of animation, like reading the last bedtime story in a monotone to induce sleep, that works best.”

The tricks that he uses the most with their kids are distraction and redirection. “Kids fighting over one colour pencil, you get really excited about something one of them has coloured. Kids getting frustrated about waiting at the doctor's, start having a sing song or play a game,” he says.

“The best piece of advice I have is to try and make it fun. Look for the fun, the opportunities to play and laugh. Forget about the funny looks other people will give you and let your inner child out to play. It's so easy to get bogged down in adulting: money, time management, work, etc., but kids aren't affected by these so give yourself permission to forget about them for a while as well, go and play,” he kindly shares.

Meanwhile, Ford's go-twos are connection and understanding. "When a child is learning a new skill, building their ideas, or navigating through a hard moment, having their safe adult be right alongside them to help them make sense and navigate with them helps de-escalate any struggle," she says.

"Connection and understanding allow the child to be seen, heard, and understood in their truth and experience—and in turn teach them how to see that in others. There isn't much that can't be solved when the other person feels safe and connected."

Her advice for staying creative and having fun while raising kids is to not be afraid of the mess and get involved in the creative process. "I think that most adults stay out of the mess—emotional and creative—because they want to avoid it. They may even feel stressed and angry about the mess. So to protect themselves, they just avoid the creative options altogether. So I like to get really good at building the clean-up into the flow," she explains.

"For example, I was with two babies recently, one of them skipped their morning nap, so she was feeling a bit irritable so to do our art project together, which was painting a holiday wreath, I moved the project inside a plastic bag. It allowed me to be able to introduce the art project in a new and creative way while also giving ourselves space to not push the moment past our abilities or energy level. It wasn't what was planned, but it was in a way better!" she shared.

Staying creative not only helps to deal with parenting challenges easier but it also sets an example for children and fosters their creativity, which is crucial in today’s world driven by innovation and novel ideas. "Creativity has been demonstrated to impact career success, enhance educational accomplishments, and contribute to overall well-being,” said Crayola Executive Vice President Victoria Lozano.

Parents themselves agree that encouraging creativity in children is very important, with 9 in 10 saying it’s essential for their development and learning. 53% believe they need to be creative themselves so their children will be too. 

Unfortunately, 33% of parents struggle to incorporate creative activities into their day due to lack of time, ideas, or resources. In fact, 29% find it difficult to come up with novel things to accomplish with their little ones.

However, fostering creativity isn’t as complicated as it might seem at first. Children naturally possess this skill, and all parents need to do is provide opportunities for their kids to use their imagination and let their creativity flow. It can be as simple as making the tools to create easily accessible.

"This can include setting up a dedicated space for drawing and crafts, keeping art supplies like crayons and paper readily available," says Amanda Gummer, PhD, a child psychologist, parenting and play expert. "Try and keep play materials accessible, so your kids can dive into creative play whenever they feel inspired."