Allow Them to Build Freely

For classroom teachers, home-schoolers, out-of-school programs, informal educators – anyone teaching engineering to kids.

From How to Teach Kids Engineering – 5 Keys to Success 2/5 republished with permission…

2. Allow Them to Build Freely

Creativity is an important part of engineering. Creative talent takes time to develop and kids need to exercise their creative muscles.

I have seen a disturbing pattern in myself and the majority of other adults. When I was a kid I could spend hours drawing, but somewhere along the way these creative pursuits faded into the background. I believe this is because at some point we start to compare ourselves to others and become self-conscious. We started to notice that some other kids were way better at drawing. What we don’t realize is the number of hours the ‘talented’ kids have spent to become so good.

I learned a very valuable lesson from my wife Kristen’s family. They are all creative – her father paints, her brother is a professional photographer, her mom and her are both extremely talented with drawing, crafting, culinary arts, you name it.

But here’s their secret – they have always created freely. Thankfully Kristen has passed on these good habits to our kids. She lets them run through tons of paper and supplies and doesn’t hold them back. And that’s the trick – encourage them, but don’t hold them back. My tendency might be to say “Hey, you’re wasting a lot of paper”, but I’ve learned it takes thousands of drawings to develop a talent.

We have a big collection of LEGOs at our house and realized a long time ago the kids can spend countless hours creating. We have found this same unlimited creative energy when we decided to let them play Minecraft – I am always amazed at the scale and level of detail they put into their creations.

Do you have kids that need to rediscover their creative side? Art for Kids Hub is a fantastic Youtube channel to get them into drawing. LEGO Digital Designer is a free program where they can build LEGO creations with unlimited pieces.