This article, adapted from a chapter in my book “Teaching Creativity: Supporting, Valuing and Inspiring Young Children’s Creative Thinking,” shows how list-making can be a springboard for students to generate creative ideas. What could be more mundane and uncreative than writing a list? Lists are for grocery shopping, weekend chores, or what to pack in […]
Tag Archives: teaching
When I look through school-supply catalogs, I shake my head at the amount of money some people are apparently willing to pay for little fuzzy pompoms, foam paper, feathers, sequins, stamps, stickers, and other fancy, colorful “art supplies.” Nothing against little fuzzy pompoms, but there’s a multitude of fabulous, free art materials hiding in plain […]
No More Sore Throats! 10 Tips You probably think this is a resolution you can’t keep, but you can. I’ve got tips for you that really work. Seriously. If they could work for me, they can work for anyone. These tips aren’t meant to take the place of medical advice. I’m not a doctor. So […]
For some reason today I was remembering one of my favorite spoken word poems, “Miracle Worker” by the wonderful Taylor Mali. Especially this one bit: Once in a restaurant, when the waiter asked me if I wanted anything else, and I said, “No, thank you, just the check, please,” and he said, “How about a […]
The Joy of Knots (This piece originally appeared in my book “Teaching Creativity” (Whitmore Books, 2010). You can order it here.) What messages do we send children about problem solving? Many young children probably think something like this: “Problem solving is for grown-ups. And it’s not fun. In fact, it’s so not fun that it […]
“Explore the World” Learning About Children and Creativity from Richard P. Feynman I’ve learned a great deal about teaching creative thinking to young children from a man who wasn’t an artist, but a scientist. Richard P. Feynman was one of the greatest physicists of our time. He was well known for his work in quantum […]
(This piece is adapted from my book “Teaching Creativity” (Whitmore Books, 2014). E. Paul Torrance, one of the pioneers of creativity education, suggested that to nurture creativity, “We can show children that their ideas have value by listening to their ideas and considering them” ( Torrance and Goff, 1990). Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? The key […]
Early childhood friends, many of us are neglecting one of the best, biggest, most powerful resources available – the library. It’s greater than all the websites, Tweets, and (dare I say it?) Pinterest ideas put together. Here’s why. Picture books. Social media can show us all the fantastic picture books out there about poetry, math, chicks, […]
(This post is adapted from a chapter in my book “Teaching Creativity.”) In my music classes, we often do creative brainstorming with rhythm instruments. One child at a time offers an idea for a way to play the instrument, and then the rest of the group will experiment with that movement. One time, we were […]
12 Tips for Making Read-Alouds Come Alive! When is a story not a story? When it’s sitting on a shelf, of course. But that’s not the whole answer. A story isn’t a real story until it’s read with thought, energy, skill, and imagination. Like Pinocchio, it will stay “wooden” (or paper) without a little magic to […]
Music (and Science) For Young Children 