How can teachers and parents create a conducive atmosphere to promote creativity in children?

Team TLT

Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!

-Dr Seuss, Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!

Now to that quote by the popular children’s author, let’s add this one: Creativity is intelligence having fun. (It is popularly attributed to the famous Albert Einstein but has been disproved to be so.) However, the sentence is testimony to the nature and potential of creativity – that it can be an enjoyable activity, and enjoyable activities have the potential to do the doer, and others, a world of good.

Creative thinking is one of the 21st century skills. That it is the third most important skill listed in the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs report is an indication of its importance. Released in 2016, the report identified and predicted what skills employers would be looking for by 2020. Why is creativity important?

Creativity constitutes the ability to see new potential and opportunities, to come up with original ideas, to mould oneself to new and changing situations and to find imaginative solutions to problems. Not only can it give young people a marketable advantage, it can help them to improve their self-confidence, earn respect and get better at managing their relationships with the people around them at work and at home. ‘Think outside the box’ is one of the most popular buzzwords of recent decades. That has now shifted to ‘throw the box away’, signifying that one need not be restricted by any method of thinking – or the extent of it. How can such a vital skill be fostered from a young age?

Children can be spontaneously creative as they have few preconceived notions at a young age. They do not mind making mistakes and go about things their own way unless their spirit is quelled by too much instruction or scolding. It is only as they grow older and go through higher levels of formal education that creativity can be stifled as logic and rational analysis take over, and they are told that there are right and wrong answers without being allowed to explore why.

Activities such as art, drama, music, observing nature and dance can be means to develop creativity in children. However, professionals with long experience in creativity and art teaching caution against the tendency of teachers/parents/ elders to give too much guidance. If a child draws a watermelon that has pink skin and blue insides, so be it. While children are being taught ‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star’, also give them the opportunity to make up their own rhymes, however nonsensical. Ask your students questions that are fun and make them think, like ‘What would you do if it rained every day?’ or ‘If you could be a bird, which one would you be?’

Encourage them to think of a subject or situation from various perspectives. Urge them to cultivate a range of interests – the knowledge and skills gained in one field may well be useful in another. Help them go beyond ‘what’ to ‘how’ and ‘why’. For instance, do not stop with asking ‘What is COVID-19?’. Ask them if they know why it was branded a pandemic, and how it spread. Then, ask them how they know that information. That will prompt them to think of their sources of information and whether they are accurate. Ask them if they have any ideas to share how one can be safe at home. Discuss the differences in the ideas given by each child and enable them to see how other people think.

Teachers and parents have to be aware that to do all this, they have to be unjudgmental and kind. The children should know that they will not be mocked or scolded or have their ideas dismissed, they should know it is fine to make mistakes too. Give feedback that is supportive and boosts confidence, enables self-assessment and independence, not criticism that will make the child shrink. While learning to be creative is fun, also underline that it needs effort and practice.