It's graduation season and we're celebrating with a very special giveaway! Enter here for your chance to win 25 copies of Peter. H. Reynolds' new book, When You Dream Big! — one for every child in your kid's class. (See full rules here.)
Kids are natural dreamers, but that spark needs a little help to stay lit throughout their lives. Parents, family members, and friends can support kids’ dreams and build a lifelong habit of creativity and respect for imagination. It’s not just about the big events, like graduation or moving up a grade. The small, daily choices that families make are just as important.
“I’ve been on a mission for a few decades now to inspire kids — and as I like to call them, ‘grownup kids’ to imagine, explore and dream big,” says Peter H. Reynolds, the New York Times best-selling author and illustrator of Little Happy Dreamer, The Word Collector, and The Gift of Words.
Reynolds' latest book, When You Dream Big!, will resonate with kids (and grownup kids) who don’t know what they want for their future. The main character, Charley, feels like the only student at her school who doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up. During her walk home, she discovers that maybe it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t know what she wants to do for a living — as long as she knows what kind of person she wants to be.
That’s a theme with Reynolds' books: It’s not about doing everything “right,” but staying creative and curious: “My hope is that when children and adults read my books, that they feel a gentle nudge to keep their wonder and exploration going. I want them to feel encouraged to be a bit braver each day and to be inspired to navigate their true potential.”
“My number one piece of advice for adults is to model ‘the spark’ for their children.... If we want our kids to be creative, we have to show them what that looks like." — Peter H. Reynolds
Why Kids Stop Dreaming
“I was inspired to start writing my books when I saw kids begin to shut their creative engines down as early as first and second grade,” says Reynolds. “When young children start school, they begin to learn that there are a lot of rules.”
Reynolds notes that a lot of kids start wondering if there’s a “right way to draw” or saying things like “I can’t draw." These words “begin to shut the creativity gate.”
Helping Kids See the Unknown as Possibility
“A fun way to encourage people is to give them a blank sheet of paper,” says Reynolds. “Their reaction can tell a lot. Does a blank page seem a daunting challenge or does it feel more like an invitation to create. I often share that, for me, a sheet of blank paper is like a swimming pool on a hot summer’s day. I see it and I want to jump in!”
To encourage your kids to dive in, you might take a page from Reynolds' sister-in-law’s book: “My brother Paul's wife would always tell their three boys, ‘I will never ask you to do something that I don't truly think you might like, so just give it a try.’”
He adds, “That always helped their boys, especially their first-born who was almost always reluctant about trying new things. From karate classes to scouting, it always did the trick!”
The No. 1 Thing Parents Can Do to Support Creativity
Want your kids to use their imagination? Use your own creativity.
“My number one piece of advice for adults is to model ‘the spark’ for their children,” says Reynolds. “If we want our kids to be creative, we have to show them what that looks like. We have to show them that we are intellectually curious, that we like to play, that we like to explore creating.”
Reynolds suggests that parents transform their homes “into studios and makerspaces — places where creativity and curiosity can bloom.” Keep art supplies on hand, have them accessible, and use them yourself to inspire kids to pick up pen, paints, and paper.
Easy Ways to Make Creativity Part of Daily Life
Reynolds offers several tips for supporting imagination and building creativity at home:
1. Don’t Let Screens Take Over
“Easier said than done in this age of digital distractions, but try to give your devices a rest,” advises Reynolds. “A great way to start a conversation about finding ‘together time’ is to read my book, Our Table — a ‘table fable’ about how a family’s dinner table keeps shrinking the more the family is distracted by their tech devices. Young Violet has to rebuild the table to bring her family back together again. Talk about how important being with each other is.”
2. Follow Your Kid’s Lead
“They will remind you of all the things that inspire a creative climate in your home,” he says. “Be silly. Sing. Dance. Doodle. GO OUT AND PLAY.”
3. Practice ‘Lost Arts’ Like Letter-Writing
“Try this: after dinner, pull out a box with envelopes and paper and get everyone at the table to write a short letter to someone they love,” says Reynolds, noting that you might have to tell kids what a letter is, how to stamp a letter, and how to mail it.
But it’s worth the effort: “Kids love putting stamps and stickers on envelopes. Try to make your envelopes as wonderful and whimsical as possible and then go mail the letters together. Kids love mailboxes. Once they see how much fun it is, they'll be excited for another letter-writing session.”
4. Get Comfortable With a Bit of Mess
“‘Spark-ready’ homes can sometimes be messy,” Reynolds says, noting that he grew up in a “spark-ready” house full of his mother’s crafting projects and books and his father’s carpentry projects (including lots of bookshelves for his mom’s TBR).
The mess extends to the family schedule, too. Flexibility helps creativity grow in a way that rigid structure can’t: “While it's good to have a schedule as a general rule, it's also good to change up the schedule. If you're feeling creative, take a break from the to-do list and dive into a relaxing creativity session with your kids.”
5. Remember Your Favorite Activities From When You Were a Kid
Reynolds reminds us that kids love to hear stories about what their parents were like as kids. Share your favorite activities from your own childhood and connect with kids that way.
“Think about what delighted you as a child,” he suggests. “Reboot these activities with your children. When I was a child, I loved the doodle game. My brother and I would make a squiggly line on paper and then trade. We’d use our imagination to turn the wiggly mark into something. This would entertain us for hours.”
6. Play With Puppets
“One of my favorite suggestions to build creativity and imaginative play is to get your kids puppets,” Reynolds says. “Puppets do not come with voices or stories. Your kids will supply those! I had marionettes and hand puppets when I was young. I do think puppetry was very formative for me as a storyteller.”
7. Go Out and Play
“It's a beautiful world out there,” says Reynolds. “Open the door, walk outside. No plan. Just let wonders of the world greet you and invite you to explore and discover.”
When Dreaming Feels Scary
We often assume that being creative is natural for kids. To a certain extent, that’s true — but dreaming big can still feel scary for many children. Adults can provide support by ensuring that home is a place where imagination thrives.
“I encourage families to have creativity-friendly homes,” says Reynolds. “Creativity is a mindset. It welcomes flexible thinking. Trying new things is part of the recipe.”
He adds that over time, “the idea of trying new things will become easier. Creativity is a language. Learning to speak it early helps kids become fluent as they grow.”
Creative fluency comes in handy when kids experience the inevitable challenges of growing up.
“There's a lot of pressure on kids, especially teenagers in high school and students in college to figure out exactly what they're going to be when they grow up,” PetReynoldsr says. “I wrote the story When You Dream Big! to encourage my readers to use their imagination to dream without limits, but I also wanted to remind us all that it isn’t the destination, but rather the journey. What KIND of person do you want to be when you grow up? That’s the better question.”
Looking for reads to spark imagination and creativity? Search The Scholastic Store by grade & age, format & subject, or series & character.
