Q. I would like to instill creativity in my children -- they are 3 and 5 years old. Please give me some ideas.

A. Helping develop a child's creativity is a great thing to do, with positive lifelong consequences. Here are a few starter ideas to use with your young children.

• Fill your home with music. Listen to various genres -- classical, operatic, rock, jazz, hip-hop, big band, reggae, techno, music of faraway countries, and more. If you talk about the music, keep it casual: This is a pleasure, not a lesson. Dance whenever anyone feels like it.

• Use household items to create instruments, and experiment. See, for example, that a wooden spoon banged on a pot sounds different from a metal spoon on the same pot.

• Do art projects, and change it up. Use paintbrushes, crayons, clay, and Play-Doh, Use glue to create collages with items from nature and household items (elbow macaroni is a favorite with kids at our centers). Use glitter and fabric scraps. Make whatever you and the kids feel like creating.

• Read, read, read, and sometimes ask the kids to close their eyes as they listen. Then ask them to talk about the pictures in their heads.

• Look at pictures and ask your children to describe what's going on. Ask "what if" questions. For instance, "What if that bird flew away; where would it go?" "What if you met these people; what would you say to them?"

• Instead of -- or in addition to -- standard coloring books, give the kids different colors, types, and sizes of paper and various crayons, pencils, and markers so they can create their own pictures.

• Involve the children in kid-friendly cooking experiences. For example, have them help you mix pancake batter and then stir in different food colors to see what new colors result.

• Take advantage of the wonderful resources in this area. Go to the Children's Museum and, afterward, talk about what the kids liked most. Watch the paper for fun, creative and inexpensive activities. And go to the library for great books -- including ones on helping kids become more creative!