Creativity in Kids, Part II

More thoughts on the creative mind, and how we see it in action through our kids.  I will first link you to this large and information-packed article we found in Newsweek last year, about the state of children's creativity today, how it can be improved, and how it leads to success later in life.

It's interesting to think of the jewelry-making we do as 'play', but it absolutely is!  It also gets kids thinking and talking about the friends, sisters, moms, aunts, and even brothers and dads who they may have decided to give their projects to.

Based in my experience as a teacher, I'd say it takes an extra step of emotional creativity to not only choose bead colors and patterns, but to choose them based on what they know that their loved one would prefer:

"In early childhood, distinct types of free play are associated with high creativity. Preschoolers who spend more time in role-play (acting out characters) have higher measures of creativity: voicing someone else’s point of view helps develop their ability to analyze situations from different perspectives. 

When creative children have a supportive teacher—someone tolerant of unconventional answers, occasional disruptions, or detours of curiosity—they tend to excel. When they don’t, they tend to underperform and drop out of high school or don’t finish college at high rates."


Lots to think about, whether you're a parent, a teacher, or both!  Do you think creativity is less automatic for today's kids than it used to be? 


See also: Summer Fun-Test Your Creativity (Part 1 of these creativity articles)