Smallsteps fears were unfounded.
It seems that Daddy was right and girls love playing with Lego. After the girls had left I asked her if she was surprised that it went so well and she said she was. I think the biggest surprise was,
Daddy was right for once.
It is apparently quite rare.
It was pretty cool to watch the girls create from the prompts, and while they are all the same age, there were vast differences in creative ability. One of the girls (who made the crocodile above) really had a sense of style with her creations, as the rest kind of just plonked things together, giving little thought to the overall and eventual look. Smallsteps was surprised to find out that this girl spends a lot of time playing with Lego.
She is now excited to have her around again.
And the ice cream buffet went down a treat. It reminded me more of the kids parties when I was a kid, where the cake was a four liter tub of ice cream turned upside down, and then decorated with candy. Incredibly easy, colorful and kids loved it. Similarly, they were pretty chuffed by the selection today and while their eyes were bigger than their stomachs, I am not sure how well they are going to sleep tonight.
I just tipped the Lego onto our dining room table and then my wife did the talking, giving them the prompt of an animal and a ten minute timer, and then asking them what they would like to build for the second one - which was a house.
And we need more than ten minutes!
It was pretty cool to see how they really got into it, spreading the Lego around, trying things, commenting on other people's and just enjoying being creative. There were no phones, no screens, no tears and no complaints about anything at all.
Creativity is a gift.
We are all born with it, but we tend to lose it as we get older, as we narrow our perspectives through experience. And, this seems to be happening even faster than before now, with many kids of this age unable to play without being told what to do, what to play, what the rules are. When I was a kid, we made up our own games, made up our own rules, created our world, because there were no prompts, other than boredom.
Boredom is good.
Today was a birthday party, so not the time to bore kids. However, children should be bored more, and not have anything but their imagination to save themselves. The problem with all the on-demand content with constant access, means that whenever they get that feeling of discomfort boredom brings, their imagination only reaches as far as a screen to save them. And when the imagination isn't stretched, it tightens and atrophies.
It isn't hard to encourage a little more creativity in kids.
But are parents willing?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Happy birthday to smallsteps! Ice cream and Lego sounds like an epic birthday party XD
I wish someone thought about it for my birthday... ;D
Well you've thought of it, go ham :D
You and your Mrs. gave your daughter a birthday party she'll remember always. Just looking at the smile on her face in the first photo says it all. Daddy *was* right!! I'm sure you are right more than you realize.
As with everything, there's nuance. Boredom can also be destructive - a bunch of boys that are bored are probably pretty likely to break a lot of stuff... which is maybe creative in a different way, who knows?
I'm not sure if we lose creativity as we get older... there's less opportunities for sure as we have to pay bills, but the photos you posted above are pretty creative, and the party decorations seem pretty creative too. The Hive blockchain is a pretty good example of how creative adults can be.
I was wondering if there is a level of individuality with creativeness... I was always happy to play by myself, but my little sister would often come to me and complain she was bored. Was she less creative than me? Did she just want the attention of her older brother? Could she be more creative than me now as adults? Absolutely no idea.. it's definitely interesting to think about.
I think so. Maybe it is part of what inspires learning how to fix stuff.
A bit of both. Loss of the creative muscle and definition, coupled with less opportunity.
For sure - which is one of the reasons I like Hive. Everyone should be on here creating something.
There must be differences in how creative we are, because there are differences in all things. However, I think there are also people who are more "prone" to being creative, or not, yet, I think all kids have a pretty high potential for it. There are also differences in whether we are able to cope with being alone or not too. But, is it "the way we are" or are we also influenced?
Honestly, I think there are so many variables it's really hard to know how much nature versus nurture play. Creative people often describe coming from creative households and families, but there could be a level of bias there as we just don't really hear the stories of non-creative people from creative households.
As terrible as social media is, I do know an absolute ton of creativity and idea-sharing comes from it... obviously you have people creating for social media, but also ask most people about something they made and there is a good chance they say they were inspired by something from Instagram or Pinterest, etc.
I have no idea about the nature and nurture percentage. However, I do think it is possible to subdue creativity through the environment. And, I think when we live in environments that don't support our creativity, our lives are worse.
I wonder if there is a cost to this too, as it might be creativity disconnected from need. I think that in the past, our creative side came through doing something useful, like making a new axe handle, or putting a pattern on a jumper. Now, a lot of what we do is just for the sake of doing something perhaps. Busy work - like most of our jobs are.
Yeah, I actually think it came from having way more free time. Farmers often had entire months off (winter after the harvest) and so days were probably spent relaxing and being creative around the hearth. I'm convinced we're working way more hours than ever before in human history (maybe excluding slavery, etc) and so people just simply do not have the time or energy to be as creative as our ancestors.
Party well done! These are the best of times. Well done Dad!
I really enjoyed getting a good Lego kit and building the item by following the manual step by step. Using the extra pieces from the other sets I could then decorate it with the little yellow people and scenery. Those were the days!
We are planning on doing this one night with adults and some wine :)
Now that sounds like a great date night!
Happy Birthday to Small Steps! I am so glad I raised my kids pre-internet in the middle of 60 acres of woods! The Lego party was brilliant.
It will be interesting in another twenty years from now, to see what the internet generations do with their inheritances.
There even a birthday can turn into a brainstorming rather than just eating :)
For sure - every opportunity :)
That is a pretty awesome crocodile! What a great job I am sure they all did. I probably would have done bad with this. I am not good working without a plan.
Good or bad, I think you would still have fun, right? :)
Oh for sure! I still have all of my Legos down in our basement somewhere. The kids love them when they come over.
That's awesome that they like the lego game. I hoped you shared more of the results; the crocodile one was really well done. I hope this encourages the other kids to do more analog stuff instead of always in front of a screen.
My daughter (who builds relatively often) has been more inspired since. We have been building together :)
Dear @tarazkp !
I wonder what kind of birthday party you would have planned for Small Steps if he were a boy!😄
Probably the same.
😄
How great, man by nature tends to be interested in mechanical and assembly things; the woman a little different; but that you encourage girls to develop that part seems quenia to me, we tend to be future architects and engineers.
greetings
Whether they go into a career or not, having the background in development and numbers is good for anyone.
I'm glad the birthday girl had fun and that the Lego served as an integrative activity.
I don't think creativity is lost with age, rather I think it is enriched if we are encouraged from an early age to explore and enhance that innate creativity.
You can be creative with a screen if that is the vocation of a particular child, each with his or her gifts.
And if we aren't enriched from an early age, what happens?
I don't believe there is much creativity involved with playing most of the games kids are playing. And, even if there is some creativity, I don't think it is the type that leads to advancement and a better life in adulthood.
Wuaoo, los niños con su imaginación es impresionante...
What a useless comment.
The Lego will help her creativity a lot
I met kids who could build an aeroplane Lego sometime ago
It’s a good gift you’ve given her
They really did have a good time with the legos for sure.
Congratulations @tarazkp! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP