Letters for Creatives #5: Lessons about creativity we can learn from children

We can learn more from children than we think

Hello, I am Celeste. Each week I provide tips about creativity and writing. Send me any related question. I will try my best to tackle your question every week.

As I am going to assist my friend to teach children how to draw next week, this question popped into my mind. Why are children so creative? There is no boundary in their brain. They can create anything. There are certainly some lessons about creativity that we can learn from them.

Divergent thinking

There are different definitions of creativity. One of them is divergent thinking. Divergent thinking involves the process of breaking old ideas, making new connections, learning knowledge that one does not know yet and going through the process when spontaneous ideas happen. When we encourage children to use divergent thinking, it would enhance children’s creativity. 

Teachers use open-ended questions to encourage children to create new ideas. A teacher may ask a question such as ‘what could happen if cats could bark?’

Ask questions that you would not normally ask

Ask yourself questions that are out of the box. It helps you to use a different perspective during your creative process. It is similar to the method of six thinking hats (which I wrote in the newsletter 2 weeks ago) that encourages you to use different perspectives to think or solve a creative problem.

There are different kinds of art classes that nurture children’s creativity, such as acrylic painting and clay. As children have a new experience, they would be delighted to see the outcome.

For example, a teacher may hand a large paintbrush and a cup of blue paint to each of a small group of preschoolers. She may notice as one dabs blue on her paper. In dreamy pleasure, the child watches the patch of blue on her paper. She then dips her brush and watches wide-eyed as the blue of her initial swath deepens in color, and great drips of blue paint slowly creep down the easel paper.-She marvels at creating a deeper tint of blue.

Do not judge yourself when you are creating. No idea is a bad idea. You can refine it later. You could ask yourself ‘what if I put these two contrasting ideas together? What would be the outcome?’

Fill your home with art as kids do

Austin Kleon, who wrote Steal like an artist, has 2 kids and they have been staying at home for over 130 days. Kleon does not want to let go when his kids go back to school again. It was inspiring to see how his kids created Super Kleon Bros, which can defeat the monster of you-know-what.

Image: Super Kleon Bros by Austin Kleon’s kids Owen and Jules

Use your art supplies or software to create. Do not set rules. You don't need to know what you are creating in the process. You may surprise yourself when you see the outcome of your creative process.

As Austin Kleon suggested in Steal like an artist, you would need the following to create:

• Curiosity

• Kindness (to yourself)

• Stamina (the ability to persevere to do something difficult)

• A willingness to look stupid

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