2 Ways Making Things Has Made Me A Better Parent
Halloween is upon us and it's time to wrap up the spooky projects for this year.
While I spent some time finishing up the last couple of items, I started to think about how much different a Maker parent is than a "regular" parent. Most kids ask to buy things at Target and, while yes ours still do that, they are starting to ask if we can Make something for them instead. To them, it's magical creating something from their heads in real life out of "nothing".
While Making things certainly won't take a crappy parent into Mary Poppins levels, it can help you be a little better.
Way 1: You Can Collaborate With Your Kid's Creativity
Halloween costumes and decorations are on everyone's minds now and it's time to get the last minute things out of the way.
For example, my daughter kept bouncing between wanting to be Rumi from K-Pop Demon Hunter and Glenda from Wicked. Once she settled on Glenda, she pointed out she needed and wand. Instead of just asking us to buy one off Amazon, she showed me the exact one she wanted from the Wicked For Good trailer, asked if I could 3D Print it for her, and add some LEDs.
This helped spark a conversation between us about what exactly was in her head and how we could make it a reality.
We got to be creative pointed in the same direction in a way that I'm not sure how often can happen without Making things.
Way 2: You Introduce Scientific Thinking Earlier
Our kids ask why and how all the time, but my favorite question they ask is, "Daddy, how does that work?"
Without even realizing we were doing it, we had introduced them to scientific thinking where they are "allowed" to question what they see and try to understand it. For example, most kids might be content with an answer such as "Disney Magic," but they understand that there is some serious engineering behind most Disney Magic (that I argue is much more cool than magic anyway). They like understanding and have learned that we love talking about it as well, whether it's about the universe, animatronics, spooky lighting, or just why the internet isn't working.
Further, it has helped us have more meaningful conversations with them and they know that we won't tell them an answer unless we believe it is correct (and that it's completely ok not to know all the answers).
