Do you feel like your significant other is the most unimaginative person ever? Maybe you are afraid your kids' imagination isn't developing as it should? Either way, imagination is an important part of living a happy and successful life, so you should consider using the following four ways to encourage imagination in others.
Reward Creativity
One of the main reasons people become less imaginative as they grow is because imagination is no longer rewarded at some point in your life. If you want to see more imagination from your kids, spouse, or team at work, it's time to start rewarding them when they come up with an imaginative idea. Even if it is a bad idea that you don't plan to use-recognize the effort, reward it, then wait for a better creative idea to come along.
Encourage Play
Adults tend to forget how important play is, but it's actually a crucial part of encouraging imagination. When you're playing, you're not worried about the consequences of your actions, which means you're more likely to take risks and try new things. So, encourage your kids to play more, and try to find ways to incorporate play into your own life as well.
Make Time for daydreaming
In today's busy world, it's easy to forget the importance of daydreaming. However, daydreaming is actually essential for helping you to come up with new ideas. So, make sure you're taking some time out of your day to just relax and let your mind wander. You may be surprised at the imaginative ideas that come to you when you least expect it.
Offer A Creative Space
Another reason kids and adults lose their creativity is that they don't feel there is a safe space for them to be creative. This space doesn't have to be anything fancy, and when it comes to an adult, this could be as simple as having a chat on the couch and entertaining everything your significant other says. Just think of a creative place as a time and place where creative thinking is received without judgment.
Do Crafts
No matter how old you are, you are never too old to participate in arts and crafts! You can encourage your significant other to enroll in an art class like pottery or painting at the local community center (taking it with them often helps!) When you want your kids to be more creative, consider making a craft basket and letting them do anything they want with what they find in the basket.
Help Them Relax
Stress and feeling tense will keep creativity out, rather than letting someone be imaginative. If you want to encourage others in your life to be more imaginative, start by encouraging them to relax. Perhaps even providing them the tools they need to do so. That could be a spa day, or maybe just you letting them have a nice evening without interruptions from the kids.
Provide Structure
A lot of people mistakenly think that in order for creativity to flourish, you need to completely remove all structure. However, this isn't the case. In fact, some of the most creative minds have used structure as a way to help encourage their own imaginations. If you're struggling to come up with ideas, try setting some parameters-such as coming up with 10 ideas in 5 minutes-to help jump start your brain.
You can use all of the above methods to encourage imagination in others in your life, or you may find that one or two are better than the rest. Either way, take the time to employ these in your life today to help encourage imagination in those around you.
