by Theresa Green

A four-year-old concentrates while molding shapes and mixing Play Dough colors.

A second-grader carefully plants each seed in her backyard garden, dreaming of the flowers and pumpkins they will someday become.

A middle-schooler is engrossed at the computer, eager to see how the design of his own roller coaster will perform.

Each of these activities fosters creative thinking—a concept encompassing much more than music, art, and drama. “Creativity, or creative thinking, is that and so much more,” said Robin Gurwitch, PhD, a child psychologist with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma. “Creative thinking also means a sense of humor. It means interesting ways of looking at the world, challenges to the status quo. It’s out-of-the-box type of thinking.

Dr. Gurwitch elaborated, “Educator Benjamin Bloom says creative thinking involves four concepts. One is fluency, or the ability to generate many ideas. Two is flexibility, or being able to see things from different perspectives.” The third concept is originality; the ability to think of something new and different. The final concept is elaboration, or the ability to take an idea and build on it.

Fostering Out-of-the-Box Thinking
Clearly, some children are born with more innate creativity than others, but child development and education experts know there are ways to help foster a child’s imagination, to cultivate originality, and to encourage the ability to think in new ways. According to Gurwitch, it starts with giving children choices. “There is some evidence that children have increased creativity if they have choices, rather than having all the choices made for them.”

Be respectful of your child’s ideas and encourage independence within age-appropriate limits. Gurwitch said, “In pre-school, that might mean allowing your child to help you decorate cupcakes and letting him or her determine what those cupcakes will look like.” As children get into school, it means letting them brainstorm and come up with their own ideas as to how their school projects should look.

Encourage music, art, drama, dance, and reading. Gurwitch said “fantasy time” is also critical when growing creative thinkers. It’s important to make sure your children have access to creative toys like Legos, Play Dough, paper, Crayons, and markers. There are even some computer games that fit the bill. The goal is to allow the child to make it up and create as they go, and then see the consequences of their designs and of the choices they made.

In addition, to broaden a child’s view of the world and open him up to even more ideas, Gurwitch recommended seeking out programs and activities that expose your child to other cultures and ethnicities.

Schools that Embrace Creativity
A growing number of schools have begun to welcome the power of creative thinking more fully. In the Oklahoma City Public School District, for example, half a dozen schools have now been designated as “A+ Arts Schools.” The A+ Arts Schools program is an approach to teaching and learning grounded in the belief that the arts can play a central role in how children learn.

Three local middle schools recently received NASA funding for an amazing adventure into the realm of creativity, invention, and outer-space. The Great Mars Project launched 300 technology education students from Jackson, Jefferson, and Roosevelt Middle Schools on a unique mission. Their goal was to locate water on Mars, land, and live there for three years. Students at each school built their home—a geometric, tent-like structure—on the “red planet.” Each school received a robotic vehicle to probe for and sample water and a go-cart for manned exploration.

For students, it was an imaginary journey, rooted in the very real concepts of math, science, and engineering—a journey that required powerful problem-solving skills. “What we do has a direct impact on our own planet’s survival,” James Graham, a Jackson Middle School instructor said of the experience. “When you really think about it, we are flying around the sun, stuck on a planet with a limited ability to produce food, using up our air and water, and we don’t have an immediate way off.”

An Odyssey of Creative Minds
Frank Collins describes his “real job” as training graduate students to become clinical psychologists. However, his “other job” in recent years has been as a coach and mentor for a team of Edmond students competing in Odyssey of the Mind—a competition where students are exposed to novel situations and challenged to come up with creative, workable solutions and then to present those solutions in a dramatic presentation. It’s all generated from the minds of children with no direct help from adults.

“Teaching creative problem-solving skills is the foundation of Odyssey of the Mind,” remarked Collins, “and to me, the foundation of life. If you can’t ‘imagine’ or entertain other solutions, you are faced with doing things the way you always do.”

“My daughter is a team player, but when it came time for competitive sports she didn’t want to go there,” said Tammy Lissuzzo, an Odyssey of the Mind parent-turned-coach. “This was a great way for her to get involved, to be creative and to express herself. I think it has encouraged her to think ‘out of the box.’ It lets you to know it’s okay to think a little wacky and that there are others who think a little wacky too.”

“Way out” thinkers took center stage again in July when students from more than forty Oklahoma schools converged on Norman for the 2003 National Botball Tournament. The tournament is sponsored by the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics, a non-profit community-based organization. According to the Institute, its Botball program is designed to get high school and middle school students interested and excited about the fields of science, information, and engineering as they design, construct, and program an autonomous robot. Child development experts contend it is the very sort of activity that cultivates creative thinking, as students get a chance to see first-hand how their own designs perform against other student-created robots.

Vive La Difference!
Dr. Gurwitch says parents can do much to reinforce creativity and individuality in their children. “As parents, we need to figure little ways that our kids can fit in and grow so they don’t feel like outsiders. Involvement in sports teaches a lot of wonderful values, but not every child is going to be a sports kid. On the other hand, just because you are an athlete, doesn’t mean you can’t also be a creative thinker!”

Ten Ways to Foster Creative Thinking
1. Give children choices.
2. Be respectful of your child’s ideas.
3. Encourage independence within age appropriate limits.
4. Allow children to have some fantasy time.
5. Make sure your child has access to creative toys like building blocks, Legos, Crayons, scissors, markers, paper, and computer programs that provide opportunities to build or create.
6. Expose your child to other cultures and ethnicities.
7. Encourage music, art, drama, dance, and debate.
8. Make reading a priority.
9. As children get older, encourage them to find solutions to problems.
10. Seek out school and community programs that foster a child’s imagination and problem-solving skills.
Source: Dept. of Pediatrics, OU Health Sciences Center

More Information Online at:
OdysseyoftheMind.org
Botball.org

Theresa Green is the mother of two children and president of Evergreen Productions, Inc. An award-winning reporter and former news anchor, she has reported on health, education, and parenting issues in Oklahoma City, Seattle, and Detroit.