4 ms·

Doing nothing sparks creativity in kids. It makes them think rather than be told what they need to do to keep their mind occupied

Filligree 7y ago
But then what if they think the wrong things?
- darkkindness 7y ago
  What I got from the article was that this is the wrong question to ask. Even if there are "right things" to be thinking, always feeding children the "right things" means they don't learn to deal with anything else. > Of course, it’s not really the boredom itself that’s important; it’s what we do with it. When you reach your breaking point, boredom teaches you to respond constructively, to make something happen for yourself. But unless we are faced with a steady diet of stultifying boredom, we never learn how.
- snazz 7y ago
  I sure hope you’re kidding, but it’s hard to tell. Time and space to think might as well be a human right.
  - watwut 7y ago
    Like for example, pick on younger sibling to amuse oneself out of boredom. And again and again and again.
    - zbentley 7y ago
      I think "let kids think for themselves" and "encourage good/discourage bad behavior" are correlated in a way that is opposite what you implied: being able to come to your own conclusions means that whatever behaviors you end up practicing (in a healthy environment, good ones, encouraged by parents/others) are your own choices, rather than things you'll slavishly repeat for fear of punishment/desire for praise later on in your life. Tl;dr parents can encourage/punish their kids and let them think for themselves. This is healthy and good. Also, to loop back to the larger discussion, using screens definitely doesn't discourage bullying behavior. For evidence I present . . . the internet, give or take.
- cjfd 7y ago
  Occasionally monitor them to make sure that they are not engaging in activities such as burning the house down?
- nurettin 7y ago
  Yell "be careful!"
  - mcphage 7y ago
    The key technique is to yell it after you hear the loud thump, but before you hear the crying.
    - jfk13 7y ago
      And the time to start worrying is when you hear the loud thump... and then there's just silence. (Speaking from experience -- it was scary, but he recovered.)
      - mcphage 7y ago
        Oy, yeah—that is scary. I'm glad he got better :-(
- hprotagonist 7y ago
  how else is one to explore the parameter space?
- slowmovintarget 7y ago
  Thinking the wrong thing is part of being human. Doing the wrong thing can be corrected. Worry about actions, not thoughts.
Broken_Hippo 7y ago
But you don't have to do nothing to be creative. Not even with children. Learning helps creativity. So does doing low-attention sorts of things. For example, going on a quiet walk or cleaning house. And seriously, going on a walk is a good habit for kids to have. Anything that might make a kid curious is also something that helps with creativity. Additionally, an adult simply asking curiosity-invoking questions aloud helps develop those sorts of thoughts. Same thing for explaining why you do whatever hobby you do. If you don't have an offline hobby, start one just to be the good example.
d0100 7y ago
I'd say that the best way to spark creativity is if "doing nothing" is directed, or that there are available activities to do. I've spent a lot of my childhood isolated with not much to do, and the best periods where when there was something that I could do that didn't involve spacing out or reading the same books over and over again. Like when there was a guitar or a piano available and I was able to start learning on my own.

Filligree 7y ago

But then what if they think the wrong things?

darkkindness 7y ago
What I got from the article was that this is the wrong question to ask. Even if there are "right things" to be thinking, always feeding children the "right things" means they don't learn to deal with anything else. > Of course, it’s not really the boredom itself that’s important; it’s what we do with it. When you reach your breaking point, boredom teaches you to respond constructively, to make something happen for yourself. But unless we are faced with a steady diet of stultifying boredom, we never learn how.
snazz 7y ago
I sure hope you’re kidding, but it’s hard to tell. Time and space to think might as well be a human right.
- watwut 7y ago
  Like for example, pick on younger sibling to amuse oneself out of boredom. And again and again and again.
  - zbentley 7y ago
    I think "let kids think for themselves" and "encourage good/discourage bad behavior" are correlated in a way that is opposite what you implied: being able to come to your own conclusions means that whatever behaviors you end up practicing (in a healthy environment, good ones, encouraged by parents/others) are your own choices, rather than things you'll slavishly repeat for fear of punishment/desire for praise later on in your life. Tl;dr parents can encourage/punish their kids and let them think for themselves. This is healthy and good. Also, to loop back to the larger discussion, using screens definitely doesn't discourage bullying behavior. For evidence I present . . . the internet, give or take.
cjfd 7y ago
Occasionally monitor them to make sure that they are not engaging in activities such as burning the house down?
nurettin 7y ago
Yell "be careful!"
- mcphage 7y ago
  The key technique is to yell it after you hear the loud thump, but before you hear the crying.
  - jfk13 7y ago
    And the time to start worrying is when you hear the loud thump... and then there's just silence. (Speaking from experience -- it was scary, but he recovered.)
    - mcphage 7y ago
      Oy, yeah—that is scary. I'm glad he got better :-(
hprotagonist 7y ago
how else is one to explore the parameter space?
slowmovintarget 7y ago
Thinking the wrong thing is part of being human. Doing the wrong thing can be corrected. Worry about actions, not thoughts.

Broken_Hippo 7y ago

But you don't have to do nothing to be creative. Not even with children. Learning helps creativity. So does doing low-attention sorts of things. For example, going on a quiet walk or cleaning house. And seriously, going on a walk is a good habit for kids to have. Anything that might make a kid curious is also something that helps with creativity. Additionally, an adult simply asking curiosity-invoking questions aloud helps develop those sorts of thoughts. Same thing for explaining why you do whatever hobby you do. If you don't have an offline hobby, start one just to be the good example.

d0100 7y ago

I'd say that the best way to spark creativity is if "doing nothing" is directed, or that there are available activities to do. I've spent a lot of my childhood isolated with not much to do, and the best periods where when there was something that I could do that didn't involve spacing out or reading the same books over and over again. Like when there was a guitar or a piano available and I was able to start learning on my own.