Nurturing Creativity in Children

Creativity is one of the hallmarks of genius--yet our educational system does little to stimulate and devlop it in children. Why? Because the end goal of education is to produce good workers, not creative thinkers.

Creativity expert, Sir Ken Robinson, postulates that teachers try to rein in the natural energy, curiosity and restlessness of creative students, and even stigmatize them with labels such as having ADD. And by their teaching methods, the school system literally destroys the creative thinking process of children.

For example, a common technique is to encourage convergent thinking--implying there is only one right solution to a problem, and leading thought and reasonong to that single point.

Creative people are divergent in their thinking. They see multiple solutions to problems, think both broadly and deeply and brainstorm to solve a dilemma.

Schools use incentives and rewards to get children to learn. Getting the "right" answers" and making "good grades" are the goal.

Creative people are not motivated by outer rewards. They tend to be inner directed and find enjoyment in learning by exploration and immersion. The sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in mastering a skill or conquering a problem is what motivates the creative thinker.

So, how can parents and educators nurture the natural creativity of kids?

Here are a few suggestions:

Encourage imaginative play.

Let children learn creatively. Encourage singing,dancing, writing, story telling, making things by hand and playing "make believe."

Don't place unnecessary restrictions on children when they are playing and learning. Let them experiment, do things by trial and error, and explore the world around them.

Don't emphasize end results, get your child engaged in the process. Let their thinking flow in a natural manner, instead of trying to influence it in one direction only.

Let children make mistakes and tell them that errors are a natural part of the learning process. Don't instill in them the need to be perfect, or make them feel they have to be "right" all the time.

Never berate a child for daydreaming, having "half-baked" ideas or being humorous. Creative personalities tend to be imaginative and a bit unconventional or quirky.

For more information and good ideas, visit the following links:

I especially recommend the video by Sir Ken Robinson. It is both informative and entertaining!

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

http://www.creativityforlife.com/

http://www.creativity-portal.com/teachers/

http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content2/Creativity_in_kids.html

http://www.amphi.com/~psych/creative.html