1. Creative Potential and the Gifted Child Jennifer Marten Gifted & Talented Coordinator Plymouth Joint School District

2. What is Creativity? Common Definition Creativity is marked by the ability or power to create, to bring into existence, to invest with a new form, to produce through imaginative skill, to make or bring into existence something new.

3. Quotes about Creativity Creative thinking involves imagining familiar things in a new light, digging below the surface to find previously undetected patterns, and finding connections among unrelated phenomena. - Roger von Oech Fluency , flexibility, originality, and sometimes elaboration. - E. Paul Torrance Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. – Scott Adams There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns. — Edward de Bono

4. A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow. — Charles Brower It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all. — Edward de Bono Creativity is as important to education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status. We don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it, or rather, we are educated out of it. – Sir Ken Robinson

5. How Creative Are You? List all the things this figure could represent.

6. Common Ideas Tornado Hair squiggle Original Ideas Path of a dizzy bug A straight line poorly drawn

7. List as many strong things as you can think of.

8. Common Ideas Superman The Hulk My dad Steel Original Ideas Jupiter's gravity Love Gorilla Glue The smell of a lady with too much perfume

9. Creative Characteristics Creative children are… Fluent thinkers Flexible thinkers Original thinkers Elaborate thinkers Good guessers Extremely curious Emotionally sensitive Sensitive to beauty and attracted to aesthetic values They can… See relationships among seemingly unrelated things Entertain complexity Strive on problem solving Display intellectual playfulness Disagree spiritedly with others’ statements

10. Why is Creativity Difficult to Identify? Creativity, particularly in children, is often seen in original viewpoints, not a product. Our society is very product oriented, and creativity is often dismissed. Creative people often ‘hide out’ or blend in rather than risk showing their creativity.

11. Why Hide Creativity? Carol Morreale Consultant, Center for Talent Development, Northwestern University Tim Brown CEO of innovation and design firm IDEO We fear the judgement of our peers. The number one killer of creativity is external judgment, whether it is positive or negative judgment.

12. Creativity Crisis Flynn effect – phenomenon in IQ testing – each generation, scores go up about 10 points. Enriched environments are making kids smarter. Reverse trend in creativity scores (CQ). Since 1990, creativity scores have inched downward. Decline is significant with the scores of kindergarten through sixth grade showing the most serious decline.

13. Possible Reasons for Decline Number of hours spent watching television and playing video games Lack of creativity development in schools Too many structured activities Too much emphasis on the ‘right’ answer

14. Creativity & 21st Century Skills Creativity, ingenuity, and innovation – keys to success in a global economy Routine, rule-based abilities are being outsourced We need to think creatively, work creatively with others, and implement innovations

15. The Development of Creativity Develop intellectual risk-taking Develop high level convergent and divergent skills Develop deep knowledge in a domain Develop strong communication skills in written and oral contexts Develop personal motivation and passion Nurture creative habits of mind

16. Creativity can be an elusive phenomenon. The creative part of the brain cannot be trained to perform on demand.

17. Creativity Needs to Be Fed Music Art (paints, clay, glue, scissors) Interactive toys Time – gifted children often become absorbed, almost obsessed with a toy or piece of music or art project. Let them work through at their own pace

18. Top 10 Benefits of PlayMarianne St. Clair @ Creativity Portal Play can inspire you to think differently. Playing can bring greater joy into your life. Play is known to reduce stress. Playing on a regular basis can increase longevity. Play can reduce struggle, conflict, and worry. Play can increase your sense of lightness. Play can stimulate the imagination, curiosity, and creativity. Playing softens the heart – as the heart becomes malleable, the risk of hypertension and depression decrease. Play can greatly enhance your energy levels. Play can provide you wan an opportunity to take risks.

19. Google’s 20% Innovation Time Off Members of engineering development teams at Google are actively encouraged to allocate and spend 20% of their work time (one day per week) on projects that interest them Gmail, Google News, Orkut, and AdSense originated from these independent endeavors

20. AdoraSvitak: What adults can learn from kids

21. Ways to Encourage Creativity Teach children to appreciate and be pleased with their own creative efforts. Be respectful of the unusual questions children ask. Be respectful of children’s unusual ideas and solutions. Show children that their ideas have value by listening to and considering their ideas. Provide opportunities and give credit for self-initiated learning. Provide chances for children to learn, think, and discover without threats of immediate evaluation.

22. How Adults ‘Kill’ Creativity Insisting that children do things the ‘right way’ Pressuring children to be realistic, to stop imagining. Make comparisons with other children Discouraging children’s curiosity.

23. Cultural Blocks to Creativity Fantasy and reflection are a waste of time, lazy, even crazy! Playfulness is only for children. Problem-solving is serious business and humor is out of place. Reason, logic, utility, and practicality are good. Feelings, intuition, qualitative judgements are bad. Tradition is preferable to change Any problem can be solved by scientific thinking and lots of money.

24. Emotional Blocks of Creativity Fear of making a mistake Inability to tolerate ambiguity. Preference for judging ideas rather than generating them. Inability to relax, ‘sleep on it’. Lack of challenge. Problems fail to generate interest. Excessive hurrying; overpowering need to succeed quickly. Lack of access to areas of imagination.

25. What Can Parents Do? invite children to come up with possible solutions for everyday problems, and listen to their ideas with respect Ask open-ended questions and show interest in the answers refrain from judging kids' ideas, even if they seem crazy or naïve avoid paying too much attention to the outcome of kids' creative efforts Create ‘safe space’ where it’s okay to get messy Provide stuff to create Encourage multiple solutions (even in mundane routines) Encourage independence Preserve free time (don’t over-schedule and don’t hover) Provide models Respect gumption

26. Flowers are Red

27. Bibliography http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704694004576019462107929014-lMyQjAxMTAwMDEwNTExNDUyWj.html http://www.ri.net/gifted_talented/character.html http://www.suite101.com/content/gifted-children-and-creativity-a166426 http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html Newton, Brad Improvisations: Use what you know – make up what you don’t!, Gifted Psychology Press, Scottsdale AZ, 1999. http://www.creativity-portal.com/bc/other/play.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFC08akRvtE

28. Bibliography Pink, Daniel, A Whole New Mind, Riverhead Trade, New York, New York, 2005. Wisconsin Association for Talented & Gifted, Creativity Guide, 2010. www.cfge.wm.edu/articles.php http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/resources/topics/displayArticle/?id=126 http://www.think-differently.org/2007/08/google-on-innovation.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-bjOJzB7LY