Cartoons for Creativity

Let’s get children to watch some good cartoons, and see them develop their creativity.

Gone are the days when you could see children playing outside for much of the day. Now, you tend to find most of them plastered to the screens if TVs, iPads, mobiles, and laptops. Children have curious minds and are always on the lookout to learn something new, and these days they find it in cartoons. They develop their fondness for cartoons for reasons such as: interesting characters (ranging from animals to people), colour scheme, mystical feel, humour, and wit.

While it is easier for working parents to let children continue with what they are doing, screen time is often viewed as a problem area. It is something conscientious parents try resolve every day. Cartoons are addictive; children as young as six months old can get hooked on cartoons. So parents need to moderate the time and the type of cartoons their children are watching, and balance out their screen to physical activity ratio. Parents also need to monitor and discuss the cartoon characters the children are watching whenever possible. This way they will not only be able to keep their children away from violence they see on screen, but also be able to direct them to alternate activities.    

Cartoons are generally creative art forms that are meant to engage and entertain children. Although often underrated, cartoons -- of course, in moderation -- can play a huge role in developing children’s creativity. At first glance you might understandably question how on the earth can cartoon increase the creativity of your child. Read on to clear your doubts.  

• Although cartoons are made simply for entertaining children, they are based on a storyline. Children tend to easily catch up on the story line. You will notice how children, after the end of an episode, speculate unshown parts of the story based on their logic, which shows that they can organize their thoughts and express them creativity. Storytelling is the cornerstone for the development of imagination, especially in children.

• Talking animals, imaginative places, crazy characters, etc. are some of the things children come across in cartoons. The animated creatures on your screen unlock doors to their imagination. And a child with good imagination is happier, more alert, and is better able to cope with life’s twists and turns.

• While many cartoons are based purely on imagination, sometimes they can also be based on real life events, religious beliefs, and myths. Sometimes they are made simply to pass educational information.  Despite what they are based on, cartoons have the ability to spark children’s interest in different aspects of real life. For example, they could develop interest in language, food, geography, or clothes because of cartoons. Expose them to harmless and informative cartoons so they can further develop the skills they are interested in.

• Visual learning has always triggered the mind more than other forms of learning. You may have noticed that your children follow your actions that they see more than your words. The animations and colours too activate the creative side of their brain. Before you know they start drawing random shapes. After all, even the famous painter, Picaso started with lines and circles. So, encourage this burst of creativity by supplying drawing and colouring materials. Add another dimension to this fun by arranging play dates to encourage them to create and share visual stories among their peers. This also helps decrease social awkwardness and encourages conversations. Fingers crossed, now that they have friends they might even start playing outdoors like you used to.

• Creativity doesn't necessarily need to manifest in the written format, and can manifest in different forms in your children. Most of the cartoons have singing and dancing as major parts as in the Mickey Mouse cartoons. Who knows, thanks to such cartoons, your children may also develop interest in singing and dancing -- which are certainly socially valued forms of creativity -- early on!

• Not only creativity, cartoons can also increase children’s understanding and analyzing skills. Keeping aside all the fun and humor, there are cartoons -- like Meena Cartoon, the Sesame Street, and more -- that are meant to develop children's understanding capacity. The children who emulate strategies that were carried out in cartoons, and criticize and defend those strategies show the development of their analytical skills.