Here is one of many articles The Creativity
Institute has reviewed and reprinted on nurturing and boosting
creativity in children. Among the articles you'll find on this
site are those that demonstrate the importance of creative environments
at early ages and the power of the right educational toys. While
some are intended for adults, you'll see the relevance for the
same processes in children.
Creativity for Success
By Kathleen Wheelihan
Creativity and innovation are
important keys to success in today's rapidly changing world. Process
improvement, problem solving, recruiting, retaining and motivating
employees, decision making, dealing with limited resources, satisfying
customers, and rapidly changing technology are all examples of
business realities that require creative solutions. Yet, innovative
thinkers are often tough to find today.
Somewhere along the line, many
adults have forgotten how to use their imagination to think and
solve problems out of the box. Roger von Oech, in his book A Whack
on the Side of the Head, recounts a teacher's exercise in examining
creativity. The teacher drew a dot on the chalkboard and asked
a class of sophomores to identify it. They responded with the
obvious: a chalk dot. She noted that the day before she had asked
a group of kindergartners, and they had come up with numerous
examples of what it might be: the top of a telephone pole, a squashed
bug, an owl's eye, a cigar butt, a rotten egg, and so on. Somewhere
between childhood and adulthood many of us lose the ability to
be creative and search for more than one right answer.
So how can we as adults regain
and maintain our spirit of fun and creativity? Here are a few
tips:
Be curious.
Practice developing your curiosity
by asking questions to get a better understanding, or to see things
from a different perspective. Some questions you might ask:
1 What are you taking for granted?
2 What are you assuming is impossible?
3 What if ...
4 Why do we ...
Celebrate your failures.
There are many inventions we view
as essentials today that exist only because someone recognized
their failure as an opportunity. Examine what can be learned from
each "failure." It may be an opportunity to create a
new product, improve a process, or solve a problem. Look for ways
to make this type of evaluation part of your normal practices
so the entire workforce is encouraged to think more creatively!
Nurture your inner child.
Look for ways to become a kid
again. Watch children at play and remember what things brought
you joy as a kid. Consider what brings you joy today and take
time out to explore your playful side. For example, fly a kite,
build a model train, gaze at the clouds to identify the shapes
you see, go for a walk in the woods and look at the plant and
animal life, or simply daydream. Taking time away from the pressures
of a tense situation can help free your mind so you're ready to
see things more clearly and creatively.
These are just a few of the ways
you can learn to be more creative to achieve the success you deserve.
Remember, it's never too late to start. Good luck and have fun!
Kathleen J. Wheelihan is a
professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc.,
a firm specializing in custom-designed keynote presentations,
seminars, and consulting services. Kathleen has made presentations
ranging from creativity to customer service and leadership to
teambuilding for a number of industries, including credit union,
education, government, health care, manufacturing, and real estate.
She can be reached at 800-886-2MAX or by visiting http://www.AchieveMax.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
MORE ON CHILD CREATIVITY
Make
your child
more creative for life.
Every child has creative
ability just waiting to be tapped. Even infants have budding creative
potential. The right educational toys can bring it out. and let
children enjoy the benefits of creative pursuits at many levels.
Infants,
toddlers,
preschoolers,
early
school age and older
school age children all delight in opportunities for creative
expression through colors, shapes and sounds.
At The Creativity Institute, we handpick each infant educational
toy, every creative plaything, each piece of furniture and every
toy musical instrument based on its potential for developing vital
creative resources in your child.
Toy
pianos, oversized
foam building blocks, puppet
theaters and puppet stages and people
and animal hand puppets, art
supplies and children's
easels, play
tents and more. The scale and durability of many of these
toys make them perfect for classrooms, homeschool,
day care centers and waiting rooms, too. The benefits of nurturing
creativity can be profound, offering children tools for success
in all endeavors athletic, artistic or academic. Let your baby
begin now.