Solution
# 1
Sara listened nervously as
her seven-year-old son and five-year-old niece began what she was sure would
turn into an argument ending in tears. “I want to play spaceship,” said Jose.
“I wanna play house!” said Olivia. “Spaceship!” “House!” “Spaceship!” “House!” Sara
finally rose from her chair to referee the escalating argument then heard Jose
say, “Hey, we could have a kitchen on the spaceship!” “Okay,” Olivia responded,
and the children played happily together the rest of the afternoon.
Without adult intervention,
Jose and Olivia came up with a creative solution to a difficult challenge by
inventing a new way of playing together. It would be every parent’s dream if
children consistently used creativity and innovation to resolve conflict like
this. However, the reality is that most children need to learn how to reason
creatively and imagine multiple solutions to dilemmas. They also need sustained
practice with these skills in different kinds of situations. But how, when so
much of children’s attention in school is directed toward finding “right”
answers and avoiding “wrong” ones, can a child learn and practice these
important habits of mind? Where is there room in a child’s life for the messiness
and risk-taking involved with creative thinking?
Engagement in the arts
offers a wonderful starting point for parents who want to develop and exercise
their children’s creative problem-solving skills. It might seem
counterintuitive to think of the arts as a place for critical thinking and
problem solving, as we typically associate softer qualities such as
appreciation of beauty, encouragement of personal expression, and nurturing
talent with artistic pursuits. Elliot Eisner, a professor of education at Stanford
University, offers a deeper understanding of the role of the arts in a child’s
life: “The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution
and that questions can have more than one answer. The arts celebrate multiple
perspectives. One of the large lessons kids can learn from practicing the arts
is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.” Dr. Eisner’s view
that the arts can be about problem solving leads us away from the idea that
children’s art is only about making aesthetically pleasing objects or providing
entertainment, and gives a parents a way to help children be more innovative in
very simple, yet powerful ways.
Solution
# 2
Rachel, a parent of three
elementary-aged children, pulls out the “scrapbox” when her kids say, “I’m
bored. There’s nothing to do!” or if she feels they have had enough screen
time. The scrapbox is a container filled with simple and inexpensive materials
like paper towel tubes, rubber bands, scraps of paper, paper clips, cotton
balls, etc. Rachel challenges her children to create “junk sculptures” that
solve a problem in an original way: “Using only the materials in the box, build
the tallest, most interesting or most beautiful structure that is also able to
stand securely on its own.” Rachel says, “My children love these kinds of
challenges, and each of them creates a very different solution to the same
problem. It’s fun to point out to them that everyone is ‘right’ in their own
way. And they are never bored with this creative activity!”
Solution
# 3
Maria, a day care provider,
does something similar. She says, “I give each child the exact same quantity of
various materials like pipe cleaners, pieces of cardboard, etc. Then I ask them
to create something original from what they have to work with—anything they
want. It’s amazing to witness the range of creations that children construct
from the same materials.” Maria also encourages collaboration between children
as a way of sparking creativity; often a new idea will emerge when two children
are sharing their thinking and supporting each other’s work. She also helps
them understand that feeling frustrated is okay. “The right amount of
frustration can force someone to think more creatively and reach for a new way
of solving a problem. It’s fun to see a child move from being stuck and wanting
to give up to feeling excited about trying out a new idea.”
Creative thinking and
reasoning have been identified and highlighted as an essential
twenty-first-century skill by many business, education, community and
government leaders. As our children grow and develop, introducing them to the
idea that the arts involve creative problem solving will teach them how to
manage frustration, uncertainty and ambiguity with innovative ideas and
solutions. Through the arts, our children can learn how to express their unique
identities, while simultaneously developing habits of mind that will help them
succeed anywhere, from the playground to the workplace.
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