During my career I have worked with young children, teenagers, and adult groups from a wide variety of backgrounds, and what has struck me most is how people blossom and thrive when they have the opportunity to see themselves as creative thinkers.

Those of you who are parents will recognise how creative your children are at a young age, and how this creativity tends to wane as they grow older. It is a well known fact that children begin to lose their creative spark as they gain self-discipline, learn language, accept their parent's and teacher's discipline, and adhere to society's rules.

Some years ago, Kobus Neethling, director of the South African Creativity Foundation, carried out a study in 15 countries. The purpose of the study was to determine what happens to our creative behaviour as we move from childhood to adulthood. The results were astonishing. 98% of children between the ages of 3 ? 5 behave creatively. By the time they reach the age of 10, only 32% are behaving creatively. By the time they reach 16, 10% are demonstrating creative behaviour, and by the time they reach 25 it is down to 2%. www.creativethinkingnetwork.com has a section dedicated to Creative Thinking for Parents and Kids.

Why is creative behaviour, and by implication creative thinking, important?

Today's children are growing up in a world which is changing more rapidly than ever before, and in many ways it is a more dangerous world. Religion is no longer as powerful a resource as it was for our predecessors, and we live, by and large in a materialistic and consumerist society. The result is that children today are not always anchored by the same kinds of values that many of us adults grew up with. We see rising rates of depression, a very high rate of suicides, more eating disorders, alcohol and drug abuse and lower self-esteem amongs our younger population. This is why it is more important than ever to find ways to enable our children to create productive and fulfilled lives, ways to help them organize ideas and the expression of ideas, ways to help them believe that their creativity can open opportunities and overcome obstacles in their lives.

The rewards are great for those who dare. You as parents have the utmost power to enable your children through the development of their senses, skills, resources, thinking ability and individuality. Helping your children to believe in their creative ability is equal to raising their self-esteem by giving them the tools to solve problems, make decisions and meet life's challenges effectively. Those of you with young children should see yourselves as caretakers of a precious commodity, a gift that your children are born with, and one that will produce wonderful rewards if nurtured and developed.