Children learn better from experiencing things than from hearing their parents telling them things. Show your child that the time management skills he or she is learning are an important part of the things that the child will do as an adult. Be positive and encouraging yourself by managing time effectively, and you might be amazed by how quickly the transformation takes place in children and how efficiently your children learn the most effective ways to manage time. 

We prepare a family calendar, involving all members of the family. The entire family follows the schedule religiously. This has not only resulted in a plain-sailing communication but has also narrowed the scope of arguments since the work is completed on time. We let our daughter decide how much time should be given to each task including the fun activities and which tasks should be on the priority list. This gives her the motivation to get committed to the assigned task and complete it on time.

Children need to know that their family members hold so much importance to homework. This gives the children a good reason to complete assignments and to turn them in on time.

• Having a regular time to do homework helps children to finish assignments. The best schedule is the one that works for your child and your family. What works well in one household may not work in another.

• Your child’s outdoor and extracurricular activities, such as sports, dance, and music, may mean that you need a flexible homework schedule. You will need to work with your school child to develop a schedule and put it at a place where the child sees it often. If there isn’t enough time to finish homework, your child may need to drop some outside activity. Let him or her know that homework is a high priority task.

• Monitor the homework and other assignments and provide your assistance as and when required to ensure your child has the clarity of the work and that necessary supplies are provided. Avoid too much parent involvement as this can make children dependent. Let them become independent and responsible.

We all know that art is a creative expression that also nurtures imagination. Through painting, sculpture, collage, clay, drawing or any other medium, art is a way for children to work through emotions, make decisions and express their ideas, not a lesson in following directions. Manipulating art materials provides a sense of freedom yet also encourages focus and concentration skills and hand-eye coordination.

Children love dramatic play. Instead of throwing out old clothes, create a dress-up box or bag. Encourage your child to use drama and movement to act out things from daily life. It could be doctors, mothers, fathers, shopkeepers– whatever your child likes. Music, movement, and dance can often be part of a simple, everyday play with your child to spark their imagination. Show your child the process of a seed growing into a plant.
Give your child a random object and ask to think of different ways in which it can be used. For example, a doll, a stick, or even a box.

Reinforce the idea that there is a different, unique way to do almost anything which will definitely spark imagination in the children.

Nature has inspired the imagination of some of humanity’s most brilliant artists, so why not our children?

You can create special little moments for your children and provide them with experiences to remember by connecting them with nature. It will help them think, question, make suppositions and spark their imagination. Nature provides countless opportunities for children to explore and imagine the world outside.

Remember our childhood days when we enjoyed stargazing and have imagined and created crazy shapes in stars at night?

I still remember the magical moments of our childhood, when I and my sisters used to spend hours with our parents looking at the sky during summer holidays to find the perfect clouds and let our imagination have fun with them. We would go ‘cloud hunting’, watch the clouds pass and identify shapes, animals, castles, scenes and more.

“Hey, look up at the clouds. What do you see? That one looks like a dragon to me!” my sister screamed with joy! “No, that looks like a dinosaur to me”, I exclaimed! Those were the thrilling moments of our life.

Cloud and stargazing are another way of sparking the imagination in children. Encourage children to come up with the silliest shapes for new star constellations or try to guess what each person sees in a cloud.

Be creative yourself. Since kids learn from watching their parents, show your child you value activities that sparks imagination by example. Start a new creative activity at home like cooking, baking, drawing, sculpting, or painting. The more you demonstrate creativity in your own life, the more important it will seem to your child and is also a great opportunity for the family to bond.