A toddler hearing an unfamiliar sound: Stops everything. Looks around for the source of the sound. Points excitedly to the source of the sound when she finds it. Asks the nearest adult, “What dat? What dat?” Continues asking until the adult answers: “A truck.” “The microwave beeping.” “A flute.” “My stomach growling.” Adult hearing an […]
Tag Archives: creativity
It’s so great that I love to make quiches and I’m too lazy to make my own crusts. Because then I have to buy frozen pie crusts – which come with FREE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS!!!! If you’ve never played the aluminum pie plate as a musical instrument, there are a couple things you should know: […]
Don’t you love it when the materials you need for a project are available at the dollar store or, better yet, free? These science and music projects use any and all kinds of plastic cups you can round up. They might include large or small plastic or paper drinking cups, applesauce, yogurt and snack cups, […]
Five-year-old Hannah was looking closely at a daisy growing on the edge of the playground. When I walked over to her, she remarked, “Flower petals are like fingers.” “Well, not really,” I pointed out. “Fingers can pull and hold things, and petals can’t.” The conversation stopped there, and I wondered later – had Hannah’s thinking […]
An important part of young children’s creativity is that “the young child is not bothered by inconsistencies, departures from convention, nonliteralness … which often results in unusual and appealing juxtapositions and associations (Gardner 1993, 288).” Unfortunately, we as teachers sometimes work against this, steering children right back to literalness and conventionality. A few years ago, […]
“We do a lot of improv here.” – Buttercup the Hedgehog in “Toy Story 3” This is my favorite scene in the wonderful movie “Toy Story 3.” Woody the cowboy has just arrived at the home of […]
