I had two main ambitions when I was growing up. The first one was to become a published children’s book author. It all started when my mother gave me a journal, when I was a young teenager. She said, ‘as you love creating stories and poems, why don’t you write down all of your thoughts and feelings in one place’. What a wonderful way to nurture a child’s creativity. Thank you, mum!
The Tap Dancing Pigeon of Covent Garden
My other passion was to become a mother. I am turning 40 this year and I am proud to say I have achieved both of these passions - I am now the author of ‘The Tap-Dancing Pigeon of Covent Garden’ (out 5th September) and I am the mother of two wonderful daughters, aged 3 and 5.
As a mother of two young children I have been to countless birthday parties, soft plays and toddler groups, and the one thing that I find very sad at these parties are the adults glued to their phones! Even just one hour without screen time can benefit parents, but mostly children as they have our undivided attention. These are lost opportunities to create magical memories we can treasure forever!
I must admit to having been a phone addict myself! I had an epiphany when my young daughter said to me one day “Mummy put your phone down so you can have a cup of lemon tea and some raspberry cake with big bear in my pink tent.” I felt terrible and immediately turned my phone off.
This made me think, in an era where we are all slowly becoming addicted to our mobile phones, we are missing out on precious moments with our children? What are we saying to them? The thought of our children doing something they are proud of and glancing at us parents, hoping for our faces to light up with pride but instead see us glued to our phones is frankly an unbearable thought.
The moment, I turned my phone off, I felt a sense of fulfillment! I was in the present moment with my daughter. These days to develop their imagination and creativity, I dress up as a fairy with giant purple wings while they turn into super heroes and we paint each other’s faces before setting off on a walk to adventure to the supermarket! Don’t believe me, see the photos on my website: www.serenahassan.co.uk. My daughter’s faces were full of joy and a delightful sight! They were so happy and so was I!
There have been a number of recent articles about the impact of ‘technoference’ disrupting parent’s interaction with their children and causing children’s behavioural problems. If parents can spend less time looking at a screen, then they can spend more time reading books to their children, a brilliant way to nurture a child’s creativity.
In my book, ‘The Tap-dancing Pigeon of Covent Garden’ there are several important messages. One that is particularly relevant to this article is ‘discovering your passion’. Pigeon bravely leaves home for the first time, flies across London and swoops down to a busy cobbled street. There he hears the glorious sound of an opera singers voice - ‘What was that wonderful sound? I think I have found a special place here,’ cood Pigeon. In the Royal Opera House, Pigeon is awestruck by a group of tap-dancing ballet dancers. From these wonderful experiences of life, he discovers his passion!
Taking children to different places, where they can discover new sounds, spaces and activities, is an excellent way of nurturing and stimulating their creativity, so that they can find out what they are passionate about, just like pigeon!
Taking time each day for a busy parent to spend time encouraging their child’s creativity through one-to-one time and craft activities will reap its own rewards. So, I would strongly advocate that all parents put down their phones and begin engaging with and nurturing their child’s creativity as part of their regular parenting regime.