From the Director of Quality Teaching and Learning

How To Foster Creativity In Children.

Schools are doing their part, but parents still have a role to play. With a little imagination, you can help your kids grow to be more creative adults.

Let’s start with posing the following question. Does creativity decline as children spend more time in school?

Researchers study an aspect of creativity with the Alternative Uses Test, in which the subject is asked to think of as many uses as he or she can for a common object like a brick or a paperclip. A judge scores each idea for plausibility. A creative idea is typically defined as one that is novel and useful. The Alternate Uses Test captures novelty, and so is considered a measure of divergent thinking - one half of creativity.

A recent analysis summarizing data from 41 studies showed that the ability to think divergently thankfully actually increases as children advance in school.

Now, what about the other aspect of creativity - that novel ideas should be useful? You’ve no doubt heard about the 10,000 hour rule—the idea, popularized by Malcolm Gladwell, that mastery of any skill requires 10,000 hours of practice. This time goes not only to honing skills, but also to acquiring knowledge—that’s what takes you from competent performer to creative artist. Generating novel ideas requires divergent thinking; evaluating those ideas for usefulness requires knowledge. Creativity is strongly linked with curiosity and awe; both dependent on levels of knowledge. By way of demonstration -

Curiosity the more we know, the more gaps in understanding we strive to fill. 

Awe the more we know the more wondrous the world becomes. 

Calrossy teachers impart knowledge and support creativity, not kill it. The implication for the school curriculum here is that students need to have opportunities to gain knowledge and to practise expressing or applying knowledge creatively in a range of domains including explicitly artistic domains.

What more direct steps can parents take at home to help your child’s creativity bloom?

First, you can promote intellectual bravery. Kids won’t think divergently if they fear being wrong, and you can be an important role model. Share your decision-making process with your kids, in particular when you’re not sure you’re right, but you choose to move forward anyway. And when you do make a mistake, normalize it. Point out that every error is an opportunity to learn something new. I have been stressing this point in the Helping Your Child with their Learning at Home presentations offered to parents throughout this year. 

Second, creative people often seek inspiration through the unfamiliar. So, make a family value of experiencing new things. Try an exotic fruit at the grocery store or watch a new television program. Be the sort of family that seeks new learning and new experiences.

Third, creativity requires knowledge, and that means it’s most likely to grow when a child pursues a subject that they are passionate about. Calrossy may be able to support your child’s personal passion – however there’s just too much diversity among kids’ interests—so encouragement must additionally come from parents or carers. Offer emotional support by showing interest and approval, and practical support by paying for classes or materials, offering transportation and so on. A parent can give value to the various products of any creative process and encourage someone to continue to explore.  If you are rewarded by the response you get from generating ideas, you are more likely to continue generating them. 

And don’t try to channel your child’s curiosity toward a subject you think appropriate. Such attempts at control usually end badly.

Calrossy is doing its part, but parents still have a role to play. With a little imagination, you can help your kids grow to be more creative adults.