Creative Freedom

I have been allowing myself (persuading dh) to let the kids have more creative freedom around the house.

K especially is our creative crafting fiend. She loves paper, ,loves to glue with paper, loves to cut paper and loves to tape paper together with sticky tape.

It doesn't matter what sort of paper it is, junk mail, bits and pieces, old envelopes, wrapping paper anything goes. As soon as she spies something on the bench she will always ask, "What's this for?" hoping my answer will be, yes you can use it and nine times out of ten it usually is. She is getting a good eye for knowing the things she will be 'allowed' to use and the things that she won't.

It makes no difference to her what it is that she is creating, just that she is creating.  I'm not huge on cookie cutter type crafts, although we do them, I generally prefer to allow the kids to do their own thing or to have an art lesson of sorts, whereby they will learn some a skill or technique that they will hopefully put to use when making their own creations.

These are K's creations that have been prominent in our house for several weeks now. The wall mural is right smack bang in our lounge room and I am sure people do wonder what on earth it is and why on earth would I let my children put up that stuff on the wall. In fact I can see it in their eyes when they are looking at it.

To me, it is my way of letting K know that her work, is valued. That her masterpieces are just as important as anyone else's. Afterall this is her home too!

The rainbow is in the hall and has again been there for ages. K asked me one day to hang the red strip of crepe paper as she wanted to make a rainbow and had been struggling with it for awhile. After I did the first one she could easily just copy the flow for the other colours.

The stars are hanging in our entrance way so every single person that enters our home has to duck their heads and walk under them.  There is one of these completed by each of the children.

I feel so happy when I look at these things on the wall and I sure hope K feels that way too.

One other area where I also try to foster creative freedom is in choosing clothes. This has really come out of neccessity, as K went through a stage where I just could not choose clothes for her. What a challenge at first, after B, who still wants me to pick his clothes out for him (I now always suggest that he just go and choose something himself), we did disagree on this one for some time.

But you know what! Really what does it matter if their clothes don't match? If they wear things that are too small or too big? Yes ok you/they may get some looks when out and about and I am sure there will be the odd person that mumbles under their breath about your mothering skills and you should be dressing your children appropriately yadda yadda yadda......I say to them, what is important, the parent being right at all costs and having the child obey, no matter unhappy it makes the child or the parent giving just a little (on something, that in the scheme of things really DOES NOT MATTER) and having a happy child?

I'll let you be the judge.....

Oh and by the way, no she is not using the bike pump as a gun. She is trying to pump up everything around her!