Children have the wildest, most uninhibited imaginations. If veered in the right direction and showered with encouragement, their creativity can be monumental to their overall development. It’s also important that any activity that the kids are doing, shouldn’t feel like a task but a fun game. It is for the parents and teachers to know when to be involved with kids’ play, and when to step back and let them have their own time.

At Doon World School, the best daycare school in Dehradun, we attempt to engage your kids in various such fun and creative activities. Here are 10 ways in which you can encourage creative play among your kids.

1. Playing with cardboard boxes. Let your kids’ imaginations run wild and let them make castles, houses, or other planets with those boxes. Let them decorate the boxes as they wish.
2. Use molding clay, and sand. It gives the kids a feel of various textures. They can make any toy like some kind of animal, etc. from the clay and structures from the sand, and play with them.
3.  Using lemon juice and water, make invisible ink. Give the kids a piece of paper and paintbrush and ask them to write secret messages with this ink. When it dries, they can read each other’s messages by putting the paper up to the light.
4. Read the books with a lot of pictures in them. Reading enhances imagination, and including pictures just makes it that much more fun.
5. Play games like charades or Pictionary. These are good and interesting games for the age-group of 5-10 yrs.
6. Play dress-ups. Make costumes and organize a small play. Include each kid by giving them all roles and treat each role equally.
7. Music and instruments. Play various kinds of music and tell them about the instruments involved. Then ask them to identify the musical instruments.
8. Dancing and movement. Make them dance on different tunes. Have them enact emotions through their body. It will teach them balance and expressions.
9. Writing. Ask the kids to make up new words along with their meanings. Have them write songs or poems. Explain rhymes to them.
10. Make a storybook. Let the kids come up with their own story ideas and ask them to write it all down.