Creativity and the Young Child

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Creativity is a skill parents can help their children develop. Since creativity is a key to success in most of what we do, creativity is a core skill that should be practiced with children. Creativity is not limited to artistic and musical expression—it is also essential for science, math, and even social and emotional intelligence. Creative people are more flexible and better problem solvers, which makes them more able to adapt to technological advances and deal with change—as well as take advantage of new opportunities. All in all, creativity is the ability to form new ideas, often from old ideas. Therefore, the factors that affect creativity are not inherited.
Creativity is affected by five factors: experiences, fearlessness, desire, atmosphere, and environment. Experience plays the biggest role in creativity. The experiences children have, the more you have to make those past thoughts relevant to the present moment. Fearlessness is another big factor in creativity. If children do not think they are creative, then, they will not be creative. Teachers must encourage their students to be fearless with their creativity. In doing so, teachers open the door for new ideas. Desire is vital to growing as a creative individual. If children do not want to change things, then, they will not. Lastly, creativity comes from children’s interactions with the world around them. Therefore, atmosphere and environment both play a role in a child’s individual level of creativity. How children grow up definitely affects their creativity. However, even if a child’s parent were not creative, children can still do extraordinary things with their own creativity. To foster creativity in the classroom, teachers must understand the creativ...

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... goal is for children to become productive citizens in the world. With this being said, it is easy to see why creativity in the classroom is essential to the development of the young child.

Works Cited

“Creative Educator”. 2014. Web. 20 February 2014. .

“Education World. 2014. Web. 4 April 2014. .
Gehlbach, R. (1991). "Play, Piaget, and Creativity: The Promise of Design." The Journal of Creative Behavior, volume 25, pp. 137-144.

Lowenfeld, V. and Brittain, W. L. (1987). Creative and Mental Growth. (eighth edition). New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.

“How to be Better at Creativity”. 2014. Web. 4 April 2014. < http://www.greenfields.u-net.com/docs/home.html

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