by
Donald A. Cadogan, Ph.D.
I am sometimes
asked if there is a negative effect on children when they are involved in too
many school and peer activities. The
concern of some parents in this situation is that their children would have no
time to just sit and think and, thus, wouldn't allow their creative potential
to develop. The apprehension here, however, would have little validity if
we were talking about childhood involvement in the playful game and fun
activities of youth. Of course, by definition, too much of anything is
bad. But psychologists generally agree that creativity springs largely
from ideas and activities that are rooted in free childhood play. To be
creative we need to both conceive of and have access to new ideas. But to do this we need to be open to our
novel concepts and to enjoy the process of conjuring them. We need to be
capable of spontaneously allowing playfully creative thoughts to rise freely
from the unconscious and flow into conscious thought. The experience of
play in childhood appears essential to the development of our capacity for
creative imagery. And the fact that we
are permitted and even encouraged to play appears vital to this process.
Many other
qualities develop from childhood games, such as feelings of mastery,
competence, belonging, teamwork, and other interpersonal skills. All of
these add to our sense of confidence and self-esteem as adults. The time
we spend playing as children is, therefore, important to our overall
personality development.
Many childhood
play tasks are structured through the use of strict game rules and guidelines
such as in baseball, chess, etc. Other activities such as drawing or
story telling are much less structured to allow for the free expression and
exploration of inner experiences. The former seems related to
establishing personal competence and skill; the latter appears more directly
associated with the development of creativity.
It is important
to note, however, parents can become overly involved with this
process and push their children to unhealthy limits. In these instances,
children are pressed so vigorously to play and to interact with other children
that they come to resent it and rebel. In other cases, children with low
self-esteem sometimes prod themselves to engage in every school and peer activity available in order to feel accepted.
Sometimes they work themselves to the point of exhaustion. In these
cases, the reasons for their poor self-assessment need to be identified and
addressed. But these are the extremes.
Most children can benefit from frequent, even intense inclusion in play
activities, provided, of course, that they enjoy such involvement and allow
time for other important, though possibly less enjoyable, learning activities
such as homework.
There are other
aspects of this process that need to be considered if we are to allow
creativity to develop fully. Experiments have shown that when children are
rewarded for experiences they already find desirable, the basic enjoyment of
these activities diminishes. For example, if a girl likes to read, but a
zealous parent gives her money for every book she reads in order to motivate
her to read more, her natural enjoyment of reading may actually decrease.
She may begin reading primarily for the money. When the parent stops
paying her she may read less and might even stop completely. We can encourage
our children by showing approval for all activities that will aid their development
(reading for example), but not use monetary reward when they already find the
activity inherently desirable. Praising someone for his or her behavior
in a nonjudgmental way does motivate and seems to enhance the natural enjoyment
of that behavior. In other words, we can tell little Mary we are happy
that she enjoys reading. If she already
likes it, however, we wouldn't want to pay her for it.
Along these
lines, it is vital to be aware that childhood play is one activity that is
intrinsically rewarding. That is, children play because they enjoy it.
But we can actually interfere with their enjoyment by judging or criticizing
the products of their play. For example, Little Johnny begins to draw
with his crayon. We could say something like "Boy you look like
you're having fun, that's great”, and, “Look at this nice picture."
This would be along the lines of nonjudgmental praise. Frequently,
however, we tell them to "Do it this way and not like that", or
"That picture is not as good as this one”, followed by, “Try and do better
tomorrow." Such comments are corrective and can help our children
improve or perform in more skillful and culturally correct ways. But
these statements can also stifle free expression by indicating that only
certain acts are good. If we want ready access to creative ideas, it is
best to accept the notion that all ideas are good and the more ideas the
better. In fact, these are the actual suggestions used in experiments
designed to enhance creativity.
Tragically, many
parents don't accept creative behavior in their children, preferring Instead
behavior that is more like other children. And many teachers don't want
creative children in their classrooms. Such children prefer to do things
their own way and can be seen as disobedient. But remember, creativity is
a natural outgrowth of childhood play. If we don't interfere with the
process it can develop on its own. But if we judge and criticize their
creative efforts - If we tell them that some ideas are good and others are
foolish - we may encourage socially appropriate behavior, but we may also
hamper the development of this wonderful, but delicate trait.