Fostering Creativity in 7 to 10-Year-Olds: A Parent's Guide to Nurturing Innovative Minds

By Paul Blackstone 

A revolution in the world of work is already underway. Over the next decade, almost every job will undergo change. Some will disappear entirely, while new roles we haven’t even imagined yet will emerge. Sectors like retail, entertainment, healthcare, manufacturing, and education are already being transformed by advancements in technology and creative design. The driving forces behind these shifts include automation, robotics, the internet of things, climate change, globalization, and the effects of an aging and growing population.

According to a report from the World Economic Forum, five years from now, more than a third of today’s essential skills will no longer be relevant. However, creativity and emotional intelligence will rank among the top three most crucial skills. This forecast highlights the importance of nurturing creativity in our children. Creativity helps develop critical thinking, adaptability, independence, and problem-solving abilities—key components of future skills and academic success.

Why Creativity is Crucial for 7 to 10-Year-Olds

Children pass through various stages of development, where creativity may either be nurtured or stifled. The ages of 7 to 10 are a particularly delicate period when creativity can either flourish or fade. At this age, children become more self-aware and concerned with how they are perceived by their peers, often conforming to social norms. Schooling, as well as the home environment, can become more structured, which may reduce opportunities for imaginative play. As a result, their activities often shift from fantastical to more realistic and less playful.

As children approach this phase, they may focus more on doing the "right" things to fit in with their peers. This tendency can lead to a decline in creative expression, with research showing a 25% drop in creative attempts during the primary school years. Unfortunately, for many children, this decline persists throughout school and only resurfaces for some when they reach college or university.

The challenge for parents who wish to encourage creativity is twofold: societal pressures encourage conformity, and educational systems often reward convergent thinking, where there is only one "correct" answer. However, creativity is about divergent thinking—finding multiple ways to solve a problem.

What is Creativity?

Creativity is often associated with the arts—music, dance, painting, and drawing—but the creative process extends to all areas, including science, math, technology, and even manual tasks like building or making things. At its core, creativity is about finding new ways to solve problems and approach situations.

The creative process involves brainstorming, generating ideas, exploring multiple perspectives, and applying flexible thinking—key values embraced at CURIOOkids. Ultimately, creativity leads to the creation of something new and valuable to oneself or others.

How Parents Can Encourage Creativity

In a world where many of the best future jobs don’t yet exist, today’s children need the skills to adapt, invent, and create. Here are some ways parents can foster creativity in 7 to 10-year-olds:

1. Create a Creative Environment: Provide your child with the tools and space to express themselves. Keep creative materials such as paper, markers, glue, paints, recycled materials, and technology like simple coding programs (Scratch Jr.) readily available. Think about your child’s talents and offer the tools they can use to explore those talents. Be open to messy science experiments, inventive “special clubs,” or construction projects that may not always work out.
2. Focus on Process, Not Outcomes: When encouraging creativity, emphasize the process over the result. Let your child explore freely without worrying about success or failure. This approach helps develop their creative confidence and independence. Ask questions that help them identify challenges and find solutions on their own rather than offering answers immediately.
3. Support Divergent Thinking: Encourage your child to explore various solutions to a problem. You can do this by asking open-ended or “what if” questions. For example, “What if you discovered life on another planet?” or “How many ways can we make a grilled sandwich?” Avoid accepting “I don’t know” as an answer—any idea is better than none, and this will nurture flexible thinking, a skill CURIOOkids actively fosters.
4. Expose Them to Diverse Experiences: New experiences can spark creativity. Take your child to museums, art galleries, festivals, and nature trips. Each offers a unique perspective that stimulates creative and diverse thoughts. Don’t over-schedule your child’s time; allow them free moments to explore their ideas without screen time, or with tools like educational apps that promote creativity.
5. Be a Creative Role Model: Your child learns from you, their parent. As you solve daily challenges, allow your child to see your creative problem-solving process. Share your past frustrations and how you overcame them. Encourage your child to think again when they make a mistake or face a challenge, helping them find new approaches on their own.

Conclusion: Creativity for Life

Creativity can be nurtured in countless ways, even when societal pressures push children toward conformity. As parents, it’s our responsibility to create an environment that allows creativity to thrive—whether through messy experiments, playful questions, or diverse experiences. By encouraging creativity in our children now, we equip them with the tools they’ll need to succeed in a future that demands innovative and flexible thinkers.

At CURIOOkids, we help children achieve this goal by offering innovative educational programs focused on future skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and adaptability. Through our interactive approach that combines technology, creative design, and hands-on activities, we provide children with an environment that sparks their imagination and helps them turn their ideas into tangible realities.

References:
Bakhshi, H., Downing, J., Osborne, M., & Schneider, P. (2017). The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030. London: Pearson and Nesta.
World Economic Forum (WEF) (2018). Towards a Reskilling Revolution: A Future of Jobs for All. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/reports/towards-a-reskilling-revolution