The benefits of creativity are immense. It encourages problem-solving and developing a different mindset in kids, and  parents understand just how important it is. But creativity is beneficial even for you as a daycare owner. You want to be the parents’ partner and show them that your daycare understands why creativity matters.

That’s why we’ve prepared a list of ways you can boost creativity in your daycare and have fun while you’re doing it.

1) Scratch the curriculum

Even though you might have made your own or bought a pre-made curriculum, know when to follow it, and when to strike out on your own in order to boost creativity in your daycare.

Both caregivers and kids love working on creative projects. It’s immensely fun to break out of the daily routine, no matter if it’s with a five-minute activity or a full day dedicated to artistic expression.

You can schedule free days when every class has to prepare a project of their own, or prepare something more related to lessons. Maybe they learned about animals (always a favorite with kids) – why not help them make their own paper pets for the classroom or home?

Stickers for childrenParents love seeing their kids expressing themselves creatively, and it helps in the long run. No education is complete without learning how to express yourself creatively, and as a daycare owner, you should show you understand that.

Creativity is always harder for adults. If your staff isn’t keen on the idea because they don’t know what to do with their class, you can brainstorm activities together. A bulletin board for that purpose can be a good way to encourage cooperation between caregivers, as well.

2) Boost creativity in your daycare with activity days

Another fun thing you can do to boost creativity in your daycare is implementing activity days.

For example, you can schedule one day a month where every class has a picnic – even if it’s just within the daycare center.

You can use activity days for holidays, too, and workshop decorations like Easter wreaths. Why not go all out and plan an (Easter) egg hunt? No matter their religious views, most kids enjoy adventure and candy.

While kids get a lot from playing with toys, more complex activities are extremely beneficial but hard to fit into the schedule. That’s why activity days work great.

And who says you can’t prepare activity days for your caregivers, too?

3) Playing and participation

Teamwork matters and there’s no place better than daycare to understand that.

If you encourage sharing toys, you can also encourage sharing responsibilities. Kids may be too small for classroom pets like in school, but having classroom plants they can water works great. Especially if every class gets to select their own.

A more fun way to boost creativity and encourage participation is to stage plays. The kids can work together on coming up with the scripts and making costumes.

While this is time consuming, caregivers can stretch the preparation time over a longer period and with that, add more creativity to every day.

4) Let kids take the reigns

Every class is a small community of its own, and its members have a lot to offer. Even if they are just three years old.

At preschool and daycare age, kids have obsessions of the month. Why not highlight them once in a while?Child drawing

Caregivers can help the kids prepare presentations about their interests and even make themed days for them.

Not only is giving kids more freedom great in encouraging them to pursue their interests – it’s also a great way to boost creativity in your daycare. Kids can come up with a thousand games and things to do. Value their opinion and let them show you what they need.

Encouraging parents to participate more in your daycare is a powerful way to establish trust and connect. And nothing works better than showcasing their children’s creativity with a fun activity even parents can participate in.

5) Partner up to boost creativity in your daycare

Both parents and you know how important it is to nurture creativity from the very start.

Sometimes it means changing how you work, but that’s the quality of a good daycare. Keep an eye out for what you can improve and take suggestions from the staff and the parents.

To avoid wasting time on long meetings, you can send out surveys periodically and see if there are any suggestions that can help your daycare.

This shows parents how much you value their time and their feedback, which makes your daycare stand out.

It’s even better if you can offer them more benefits like the ability to book extra care and drop spots in case of absences with Hopping In.

When you’re working to boost creativity in your daycare, that includes you, too. Differentiate your daycare from others by taking extra steps to make both the kids and parents happy with your daycare.

After all, when parents see their kids excited to go to your daycare every day, it makes them more excited to send them.

Author: Hopping In Blog

Sholom Strick is an expert on the business of running daycare centers and founder of Hopping In, a tool that helps childcare centers and family daycare providers fill unused spots.

To contact him or for media inquiries email s.strick@daycareteam.com

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