Today I’m sharing some thoughts from a guest poster on nurturing the natural creativity of our children to help them further their IT skills. A really interesting subject, so hopefully you’ll find this an interesting and enjoyable read. Here it is:
I grew up in a house on a street that only had a handful of children – and only one of those kids was my age. His name was Andrew, and for his birthday one year when we were really young, his parents bought him an electric car. This was out-of-this-world-amazing to me, and I couldn’t wait to go for rides. However, his parents took the car back to the shop for a refund, and I never got to go for a ride. Why did they do this? Because when they took little Andrew out for a spin, he dutifully drove the car to the nearest stick on the ground, got out, and started playing with the stick instead. Apparently, this happened enough times to warrant giving up on the idea of the wheels. Children will be children, and that means children will be creative. A stick is a sword. A stick is a wand. A stick is imagination. All a silly old car does is move forwards while you sit still. I can see Andrew’s dilemma. With that in mind, let’s look at IT skills for kids that play into their desire to be creative.
Arts with a laptop
Everything is art. From the shape of your coffee mug to the interlocking practicality of the roof tiles on your house, someone had to design how the finished article would look and function. There’s a future in art. Teaching your child how to be proactive with a laptop when it comes to arts and crafts is a lesson they may well take too far and develop into a career, and that’s no bad thing. First thing’s first, though, you’re going to need lots of ink. Kids love to print their work (see here). Secondly, you’re going to need a bit of time and a few lessons in your back pocket. Unless you’re a Photoshop aficionado, you may need some help with this one. Our advice is to check the web for free lessons for beginners, and get ready to pay for extra lessons if your child’s interest really takes off (begin by looking at this site for ideas).
Typing games that are actually addictive
No, we’re not harking back to the days of programming an hour’s worth of keyboard commands to make a stick figure walk forwards. We mean actual typing games that require you to get creative with your typing speed and have fun to win timed prizes. There are plenty to choose from with a simple search, and will mean hours of fun while learning to speed type.
