Having creative confidence is trusting and valuing each and every one of your ideas and taking creative risks.
In the Art Studio this is goal #1 – to instill creative confidence in every visitor that walks through the door – no matter what the project is, what medium we are exploring, or what collaborative project we are constructing.
Each month there is a new idea posted about how to instill creative confidence in children at home and in the classroom posted by myself and other museum educators.
Idea 4 – Go the extra mile – follow your child’s interest (and do it for free!)
Have you observed that your child really loves to draw animals that live in the ocean? 
Take him to the New England Aquarium
http://www.neaq.org/index.php
Free tickets for general admission are available from the Boston Public Library free ticket program.
Learn more: http://www.bpl.org/general/circulation/museum_passes.php
Or go to the zoo
http://www.zoonewengland.org/
Did you notice that your child really loves to build? 
How about visiting the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum
deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum
51 Sandy Pond Road Lincoln, MA 01773
Admission is FREE for all visitors on the first Wednesday of every month.
or go see MIT’s Architecture & Design Collection at the MIT museum
MIT Museum (Main Building)
265 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA
Open Daily 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Admission is free every Sunday from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., excluding April 14 and April 21, 2013.
Have you noted that your child really loves the color yellow?
Collect some interesting yellow objects for her….
How? Do a search the word yellow on Craig’s list in the free stuff. Or do a hunt through your recycling box for things that are yellow, or buy a big thing of yellow paint and let her paint some stuff yellow!
Does your child save cardboard boxes?
How about checking out some installations or sculptures made from cardboard boxes:
• “Boombox” by French designer Stéphane Malka
http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/dyn/47131/cardboard-aims-at-high-culture-with-an-epic-video-installation/
• 12 Cardboard Artists Who Think Outside the Box
http://weburbanist.com/2009/10/19/12-cardboard-artists-who-think-outside-the-box/
• Art Installations made with cardboard: the paper stuff project by Bartek Elsner
Does your child really love his grandmother’s collection of plates? 
Take him to a museum!
Museum of Fine Arts – Free Wednesday 4:00pm-9:45pm
Museum of Science – Public Library free ticket program
Harvard University Art Museums – Free on Saturday 10:00am-Noon
• Fogg Museum
• Arthur Sackler Museum
• Busch-Reisinger Museum
Harvard Museum of Natural History – Free to Massachusetts Residents only on – Sunday 9:00am-Noon and Wednesdays from 3 to 5pm (September to May). Also free to Bank of America card holders on the first weekends of every month.
Institute of Contemporary Art – Free Thursday 5:00pm-9:00pm
Peabody Essex Museum (Salem)- Free first Friday of month 5:00pm-8:00pm
Commonwealth Museum (Columbia Point) – Free everyday
How is this supporting creative confidence? It shows your child that you are really paying attention, and supporting their interests. You want them to succeed – that you support their growth and learning. It shows that you are there to learn and discover with them, that they are leading their own inquiry – and that is a positive thing! Confidence comes from feeling supported and that your ideas are valued. Support your child’s ideas.
Thanks Addison for your help in finding great deals in Boston!
http://addison.hubpages.com/hub/21-free-things-to-do-in-boston
The Power of Play 