Education Corner: Creativity of Learning

During a “normal school day,” students are often given time to expand their brain pathways during recess, music, art or science labs. However, with online education happening more and more, many students are not having as many of those experiences. These activities provide children with the ability to problem-solve and create things we have possibly never thought about yet.

The beauty of fostering creativity and imagination in children is that it doesn’t require much. You don’t need a fancy kit or a high-tech toy — just a simple, everyday item like a big box and masking tape. The goal is to stimulate their creative thinking and encourage them to think outside the box.

Have you experienced spending big dollars on a dream gift only to have your child be more interested in the big box? Their need to express their creativity and imagination by turning a box into a spaceship, children expanding their cognitive understanding and ability to apply the information they have gained during their lives. Giving children the freedom and chance to create and fail allows them to develop the process of problem-solving for situations they may face in the world around them.

We adults can help children take these processes to a higher level by posing questions to them like, “Where are you going with your spaceship?” or “How does your tent keep the rain out?” Your job then becomes going along with whatever they might respond with, reasonable or not. It is also important that you do not need to point out when there is no possible way their creative answer will happen. In time they will come to that conclusion as they better understand and apply the information they gain. Allow them to experience, discover, and make adjustments.

It does not have to be a cardboard box. Grab some blankets and let the tent construction begin. Ask the students, “How could we make a tent?” Let the learning begin, and your only job is to ask questions and allow them to discover and problem-solve.

Let the adventure begin! Set out some boxes and blankets and watch their imagination run wild. Enjoy this process and the holiday season. Who knows the birth of the next big invention in your living room?