Creativity.
"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh the thinks you can think up if only you try" - Dr. Seuss
"Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that's easy. What's hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." - Charles Mingus
"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while." -Steve Jobs.
"In our always–on, always–connected world of television, social media, and on–demand everything, it can be stupidly easy to spend your entire day consuming information and simply responding to all of the inputs that bombard your life." - James Clear
"Open a blank document and start typing. Put pen to paper and sketch a drawing. Grab your camera and take a picture. Turn up the music and dance. Start a conversation and make it a good one. Build something. Share something. Craft something. Make more art. Your health and happiness will improve and we’ll all be better off for it." - James Clear
" It is creative intelligence that lets us imagine, that allows our minds to shape things that are not present, which do not exist and what we never have experienced. Creative intelligence allows us to raise hypotheses, conjecture, to see new possibilities and to speculate." (Vinyets, 2014)
"In our always–on, always–connected world of television, social media, and on–demand everything, it can be stupidly easy to spend your entire day consuming information and simply responding to all of the inputs that bombard your life." - James Clear
"Open a blank document and start typing. Put pen to paper and sketch a drawing. Grab your camera and take a picture. Turn up the music and dance. Start a conversation and make it a good one. Build something. Share something. Craft something. Make more art. Your health and happiness will improve and we’ll all be better off for it." - James Clear
" It is creative intelligence that lets us imagine, that allows our minds to shape things that are not present, which do not exist and what we never have experienced. Creative intelligence allows us to raise hypotheses, conjecture, to see new possibilities and to speculate." (Vinyets, 2014)
Crayola and Creativity
On the Crayola website, they have a page that encourages the importance of creativity in order to build children's futures. Linked on the page is a pdf document which guides and provides tips for parents to facilitate a means of creative expression through art. They explain how this effects the child's mind in all areas etc. Some cool points made are as follows:
Setting the scene:
"Creative people invent, imagine,
problem-solve, create, and
communicate in fresh, new
ways. Every career requires creative thinkers: scientists,
engineers, medical researchers, technology innovators, business entrepreneurs, artists,
performers, writers and illustrators, designers, inventors, educators and parents. Those with the ability to “think outside of the box” will lead the future
and make special things happen.
Seeds of creativity live in everyone. You as parents are kids’ first and lifelong teachers. You can nourish sprouting imaginations into strong, growing creative minds.
Nourish kids with creative experiences throughout childhood with art. Encouraging your child’s creativity can be simple and easy to do and fun for everyone." Try these tips:
ways. Every career requires creative thinkers: scientists,
engineers, medical researchers, technology innovators, business entrepreneurs, artists,
performers, writers and illustrators, designers, inventors, educators and parents. Those with the ability to “think outside of the box” will lead the future
and make special things happen.
Seeds of creativity live in everyone. You as parents are kids’ first and lifelong teachers. You can nourish sprouting imaginations into strong, growing creative minds.
Nourish kids with creative experiences throughout childhood with art. Encouraging your child’s creativity can be simple and easy to do and fun for everyone." Try these tips:
1. Provide your children with both planned craft projects
and spontaneous, simple art experiences they can do on
their own. Create an art center in your kitchen or family
room so your kids can creatively express themselves.
2. Encourage your children to try new, unique ways of doing things. Don’t expect their artwork to look like samples others have made. Encourage your kids to come up with their own way to do crafts. Ask, “I wonder what would happen if...” to inspire their imagination.
3. Build your kids’ confidence in their own creative abilities. If they ask you to make it for them, reply that you’d love to see what they create. Children’s fresh and unique styles should be valued.
4. Emphasise the enjoyment and the “process” of creating art, more than the results. The aesthetic qualities of a young child’s works are not as important as the process used to create them.
5. Celebrate your children’s creativity by displaying their art.
2. Encourage your children to try new, unique ways of doing things. Don’t expect their artwork to look like samples others have made. Encourage your kids to come up with their own way to do crafts. Ask, “I wonder what would happen if...” to inspire their imagination.
3. Build your kids’ confidence in their own creative abilities. If they ask you to make it for them, reply that you’d love to see what they create. Children’s fresh and unique styles should be valued.
4. Emphasise the enjoyment and the “process” of creating art, more than the results. The aesthetic qualities of a young child’s works are not as important as the process used to create them.
5. Celebrate your children’s creativity by displaying their art.
Crayola encourages parents to bond with their children through creativity, providing numerous ideas that include:
Creativity predicts a longer life. According to Rodriguez (2012) "A large body of research links neuroticism with poorer health and conscientiousness with superior health". Furthermore, Courtney Carver (2014) supports the idea that possibly the reason creativity protects health is that it draws on a variety of neural networks in the brain. Creating art is good for your wellbeing, as it reduces anxiety, stress and negative emotions providing improved medical outcomes. So it not only helps you live longer, but can also improve your current wellbeing.
Solve problems. Creativity encourages better problem solving in all areas of your life. It allows you to approach situations from all angles in ways those who think logically or in a linear manner, cannot. Creativity also facilitates comfort in living with uncertainty. "creative people are better able to live with uncertainty because they can adapt their thinking and allow for the flow of the unknown" (Carver, 2014).
Develop confidence. With many knocks and managing uncertainty, creativity encourages a new found confidence in all outputs. It enables you to discover failure as part of the creative process. Once you survive failure, you learn, grow and become better.
Proven health benefits. A study published in the "Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine" used writing as a treatment for HIV patients found that writing resulted in “improvements of CD4+ lymphocyte counts." In other words, "the act of writing actually impacted the cells inside the patient’s body and improved their immune system." (Clear, 2016). "The process of creating art doesn’t just make you feel better, it also creates real, physical changes inside your body."
- Making up games with their children
- Making thank you cards
- Decorating your home with your child's art. (celebrate their creativity, show you value what they create)
- Drawing funny memories, then talk about it with the kids
- Colouring books
- "warm fuzzies" act of kindness box
- Family murals
It's Important to be creative.
Solve problems. Creativity encourages better problem solving in all areas of your life. It allows you to approach situations from all angles in ways those who think logically or in a linear manner, cannot. Creativity also facilitates comfort in living with uncertainty. "creative people are better able to live with uncertainty because they can adapt their thinking and allow for the flow of the unknown" (Carver, 2014).
Develop confidence. With many knocks and managing uncertainty, creativity encourages a new found confidence in all outputs. It enables you to discover failure as part of the creative process. Once you survive failure, you learn, grow and become better.
Proven health benefits. A study published in the "Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine" used writing as a treatment for HIV patients found that writing resulted in “improvements of CD4+ lymphocyte counts." In other words, "the act of writing actually impacted the cells inside the patient’s body and improved their immune system." (Clear, 2016). "The process of creating art doesn’t just make you feel better, it also creates real, physical changes inside your body."
We need to...
Break the myth. People grow up with the belief that only a few of many posses creative skills. This isn't true at all. We're all creative in our own ways, some of us just don't explore it as much as others because of this psychological barrier.
Encourage mistakes. Today's curriculum refuses to condone mistakes as a key part of the creative process. In order to problem solve, we need to encourage diversity and different ways of thinking in order to facilitate a variety of answers and possibilities from each individual. Rather than grooming them to each individually come up with one correct response to a problem.
Acknowledge different personalities. The Following personality traits are recognised aspects of creative people: being imaginative, having insight or intuition, being open and perceptive, being willing to take risks, and having a high tolerance for ambiguity.
Start to cultivate creativity. "Creativity relies on our cognition (ability to visualize and understand), memory (what we have learned) and our ability to extend, restate, recombine and invent new responses to situations, to our internal (drive, risk-taking, etc.) and to how we interact with the external environment." (Vinyets, 2014)
- How do we shape the creativity skills of children?
- Are we encouraging creativity with our game?
- Are we pushing children to be more creative and innovative?
- How do we encourage parents and educators to get involved in the idea of creative innovation among children?
Sources:
Waters, Preston. "Why creativity is the most important quality you have". Elite Daily: Jan 8 2013. sourced from http://elitedaily.com/money/entrepreneurship/creativity-important-quality/
Sterman, Cheri. "The Power of Creativity Guide to Encourage Creative Expression". Crayola: 2001, Binney & Smith Inc. Sourced from http://www.crayola.com/~/media/Crayola/PDF/poc_booklet.pdf
Rodriguez, Tori "Creativity Predicts a Longer Life." The Trait of Openness Improves Health Through Creativity: September 1, 2012. Sourced from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/open-mind-longer-life/
Carver, Courtney. "Why it's important to be creative": 2014, sourced from http://bemorewithless.com/create/
Clear, James. "Make more Art: The Health Benefits of Creativity": 2016, sourced from: http://jamesclear.com/make-more-art
Vinyets, Joan. "The Importance of Creative Intelligence for our Society". 2014; sourced from: http://joanvinyets.net/the-importance-of-creative-intelligence-for-our-society/
Sterman, Cheri. "The Power of Creativity Guide to Encourage Creative Expression". Crayola: 2001, Binney & Smith Inc. Sourced from http://www.crayola.com/~/media/Crayola/PDF/poc_booklet.pdf
Rodriguez, Tori "Creativity Predicts a Longer Life." The Trait of Openness Improves Health Through Creativity: September 1, 2012. Sourced from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/open-mind-longer-life/
Carver, Courtney. "Why it's important to be creative": 2014, sourced from http://bemorewithless.com/create/
Clear, James. "Make more Art: The Health Benefits of Creativity": 2016, sourced from: http://jamesclear.com/make-more-art
Vinyets, Joan. "The Importance of Creative Intelligence for our Society". 2014; sourced from: http://joanvinyets.net/the-importance-of-creative-intelligence-for-our-society/
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