Promoting Creativity in Young Children

One thing I have found interesting in the course of getting my Early Childhood Education degree is that so many educators say they value creativity...and then you walk into their classroom and the walls are papered in crafts where each child's creation is supposed to look like the teacher's. I loved taking the Creative Experiences class because it gave me the ability to not feel like a lazy bum of a mother when I get on Pinterest and see all the crafts my kids aren't doing.

Here are some pointers on promoting creativity from the textbook from my Creative Experiences class, Creative Thinking and Arts-Based Learning:
Understand what it means to be a creative teacher and be able to recognize what constitutes a creative activity. Isenberg and Jalongo (2014) define creativity as "the interaction among aptitude, process, and environment by which an individual or group produces a perceptible product that is both novel and useful as defined within a social context" (p. 8). Rather than the teachers (and moms) performing or creating an activity, activate the child's potential.
Offer support for possibility thinking- help children engage with everyday problems at a deeper level and pose "what if" questions. Engage in problem finding as well as problem solving.
Value the process more than the product. Children need to explore materials and practice before they can arrive at satisfying outcomes. Instead of pressuring children to make a specific product, it is more beneficial to give them time to simply explore what happens when they use different materials.
Encourage rather than praise. Praising is passing judgment on the quality of the work, but encouragement acknowledges the child's efforts. Saying things like "good job" are pretty meaningless, talking about how the child went through the process of making their creation is more beneficial. Creative Thinking and Arts-Based Learning suggests several phrases you can use:
How did you get the idea for this?
I like the way you used ____ because...
I wonder what would happen if...
I notice that you...
This interests me because..

One of my professors told us to ask, "Who is being creative, the adult or the child?" If the adult is imagining the activity and gathering materials while the child is simply assembling it, it's not a creative activity. One of the best things you can do is offer children paint and/or craft materials and see what they come up with. Better yet, explore with them and have fun!

Reference

Isenberg, J. P., & Jalongo, M. R. (2014). Creative thinking and arts-based learning: Preschool through fourth grade. (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.