Raising a Creative Kid eBook {Review & Giveaway}
Have you ever noticed my tagline at the top of the page? Encouraging learning through creativity and play. Have you ever paused to think about what that means? Jillian Riley, author of A Mom With A Lesson Plan, knows exactly what I’m talking about. She was actually one of the first blogs I started following and reading every post. Her view of learning through play is very much in line with mine. It is exciting to see all of the creative things that happen in her world – all because she opens the door for them. Her eBook, Raising a Creative Kid: Simple Strategies for Igniting and Nurturing that Creative Spark, teaches us how to cultivate creativity in our children.
Why I Recommend Raising a Creative Kid
What you’ll learn:
- how to setup an open-ended creative environment
- how to select toys that foster creativity
- how to select materials that promote creative minds
- how to speak in a way that encourages creativity
Jillian provides examples of her own children’s creativity in her Creativity in Action sections. Through them, we get a clear picture of what creativity can look like.
Exercises for practicing creativity are given at the end of each section. These are worth buying the book all on their own!
Take home point: After reading this book, you will come away inspired and excited by your new knowledge of how to raise a creative kid.
Jillian has more reviews of the book on her website. You can also take a peek at the Table of Contents.
Interview with the Author
Hi! I am Jillian, author and creator of A Mom With A Lesson Plan. I believe that life offers an abundance of learning opportunities. I love figuring out what they are and how they can be expanded on. A Mom With A Lesson Plan gives me the opportunity to help other parents find those learning experiences right along with me.
My Questions for Jillian:
Question 1: What does being creative mean to you?
Creativity means having the confidence that you will be able to find an answer, whatever the situation might be. While using creativity can be fun, relaxing, and profitable I think the bottom line is that being creative makes you a problem solver.
Question 2: Why is it important for our children to be creative?
If we think of creativity as problem solving it’s easy to see why creativity in our kids is so important. Since it is impossible to know what situations or opportunities will be presented to our kids we want them to be prepared to creatively handle anything that may come along.
Question 3: What did you learn while writing Raising a Creative Kid?
This question is kind of funny because my first thought is that I learned A LOT! From writing to marketing to formatting, I did just about everything on my own (with help from my husband). That meant a lot of research, a lot of trial and error and a lot of creative exploration. I guess my answer is that while writing Raising a Creative Kid I learned that fostering creativity is as important for us as adults as it is for our kids.
Question 4: Can you gives us an example of something Big M and Little M have created or a problem they have solved with creative thinking?
Big M creates all the time. This morning he dragged an old rain gutter, two large orange cones and a bucket full of wiffle golf balls over to the slide. I watched as he placed the cones on either end of the rain gutter and propped one cone up on the bottom of the slide. He spent the rest of the morning dropping balls down the slide, into the cone, through the rain gutter, out the other cone. The pride on his face as he watched his idea come to life was exactly what drives me to provide them with a creativity rich environment.
Little M loves to sing. She makes up songs while she is playing or working. One of my favorite things is to sit close to her while she plays and listen to her stories unfold.
A Giveaway
I am excited to be able to give away one Raising a Creative Kid eBook to one of you!
To enter to win, leave a comment below (= one entry).
Get one bonus entry {optional}:
Share this giveaway via Twitter, Facebook, or G+. Then, leave a second comment telling me what you did.
The rules:
No purchase necessary. Odds of winning are based on number of entries. Sweepstakes starts on 7/9/12 and ends at 11:59pm CDT on 7/15/12. eBook is valued at $7.99. Two entries are allowed per person. Eligible to anyone worldwide, 18 and older. I use the plugin And the Winner is to randomly select a winner from the comments. When the giveaway ends, I will contact the winner by e-mail. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before I randomly select a new winner. The author of the eBook will send the winner the eBook in his/her preferred format (iPad, Kindle, PDF, or Android).
The Book is Available Today
Starting today you can buy your own copy of Raising a Creative Kid: Simple Strategies for Igniting and Nurturing that Creative Spark. Click on the picture below to take you to the sales page.
Remember that raising a creative kid is important and possible. I do hope you agree!
Thanks for stopping by today.
Disclosure: I was provided a copy of the eBook to review. I am also an affiliate and as such will receive a portion of sales from the book. The opinions expressed are all mine.