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Ten Ways to Foster Students' Creativity

Many lament a loss of creativity in the classroom and the decreasing amount of unstructured time students have for playful exploration. Yet creativity--linked to innovation and problem-solving--is essential for students' future success. With a little effort, it's possible to integrate creativity into existing lessons.

Try the 10 ideas below and watch student engagement soar! Many of these activities come from great sources such as Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog, Innovation Excellence and Edutopia.

  1. Ban clip art.  Instead of encouraging students to use clip art in their projects and presentations, instruct them to draw their pictures instead. Require it as part of the project rubric, and stress to kids that the more color and unique qualities, the better. 
  2. Use emotional connections.  Help students develop an emotional connection to their work by giving them projects that draw upon something that's special to them or solve an issue within their communities. This helps them produce better-quality work.
  3. Treat creativity as a skill.  Treat creativity as a skill in the curriculum, just like reading and writing. By treating creativity as a required skill, teachers will have greater opportunity to encourage it. 
  4. Have students critique classmates' work.  Get students together in pairs and have them look at their partners' assignments and help edit their work. Doing so will give students confidence and broaden their perspective. 
  5. Turn your classroom into the environment about which students are learning.  Whether kids are learning about the Middle Ages or reading a specific book, teachers can easily transform the classroom into a castle, a jungle or a forest. Doing so will impress students and motivate them to learn more about the subject. 
  6. Incorporate your students' favorite things into the classroom.  Survey students at the beginning of the year about their favorite colors, snacks, books, animals, etc. Then, celebrate a 'student of the day' throughout the school year--decorate the classroom with the student's favorite color, serve his/her favorite snack, and incorporate his/her favorite things in writing exercises and assignments. 
  7. Highlight a featured 'artist of the day' or other creative individual.  Read or present the person's work, show his/her picture and teach students about the importance of creativity and the effect it has on the world. 
  8. Designate spaces for creativity.  Whether it is a drama station with a costume box and stage, a music station or a 'thinking table,' students will enjoy having a special space to express their creativity throughout the day. 
  9. Host exhibitions.  Help students show off their work at a number of exhibitions throughout the school year. Invite parents, friends and other teachers and students. Set up stations where kids can show off their artwork, papers and other creative pieces. The encouragement and compliments they get will give students the confidence to be more creative. 
  10. Use a creativity model.  Using the Osborne-Parnes model, build the following activities into everyday lessons on any topic: 


Related resources

Resources for Cultivating Student Creativity


Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor
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