Category — Art

“Everyone is born creative;  everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten,” writes Hugh MacLeod in Ignore Everybody And 39 Other Keys to Creativity (New York: Portfolio, 2009).  He continues…

“Then when you hit puberty they take away the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc.  Being suddenly hit years later with the ‘creativity bug’ is just a wee voice telling you, ‘I’d like my crayons back please.’

“So you’ve got the itch to do something.  Write a screenplay, start a painting, write a book, turn your recipe for fudge brownies into a proper business, build a better mousetrap, whatever.  You don’t know where the itch came from, it’s almost like it just arrived on your doorstep, uninvited.  Until now you were quite happy holding down a real job, being a regular person.

“…. That wee voice didn’t show up because you decided you need more money, or need to hang out with movie stars.   Your wee voice came back because your soul somehow depends on it.  There’s something you haven’t said, something you haven’t done, some light that needs to be switched on, and it needs to be taken care of.  Now.

“So you have to listen to the wee voice or it will die… taking a big chunk of you along with it.  They’re only crayons.  You didn’t fear them in kindergarten, why fear them now?”

In this first installment of age appropriate reading lists by age, we will share 10 books for ages 2, 3, and 4.  Check back often for more recommendations!

Quick! Quack! Quick - Arnold, Marsha
Country Crossing - Aylesworth, Jim
Animals Should Definitely Not wear Clothing - Barrett, Judi
The Berenstain’s B Book - Berenstain, Stan & Jan
Old Hat New Hat - Berenstain, Stan & Jan
The Velveteen Rabbit - Bianco, Margery Williams
Gingerbread Baby - Brett, Jan
The Mitten - Brett, Jan
Wings on Things - Brown, Marc
Goodnight Moon - Brown, Margaret Wise

In the Q & A portion of his new Exchange book, Natural Playscapes: Creating Outdoor Play Environments for the Soul, Rusty Keeler talks about how messiness in outdoor play is important to learning and how to explain that to parents:

“Childhood is supposed to be messy and and natural playscapes [outdoor play areas] offer a kind of messiness that inspires learning and creativity. Children make mud pies out of mud; they pile up leaves and carry them around; sand and dirt are good for digging in. Two vital tricks are: having an extra set of ‘messy clothes’ on hand to change into and reminding parents to dress their children appropriately for play. If parents feel uncomfortable with the mess, tell them ‘the dirtier your child gets at school, the better reader they will become.’ When they scratch their heads, and look doubtful, explain that the experiences a young child has playing set up the foundation for future learning. The skills they learn on the playscape, such as having the confidence to try things they’ve never done before, will later translate to the school setting. For example, the world of reading — sounding out letters and words they’ve never seen — could seem daunting unless children have had positive experiences stretching themselves, gaining confidence, and growing through play. A natural playscape makes it easy for children to find challenging ways to dig, jump, stomp, and splash — and yes, get messy in the process — all on their way to becoming better readers.”

Creativity! That headline on the cover of Psychology Today (November 2009; pyschologytoday.com) caught my attention as sure ExchangeEveryDay fodder. Indeed it had some deep and thoughtful articles.  But what I came away with for today was some snippets from throughout that issue:

“The first step to increasing your creativity quotient is believing you can.  Even if no one has ever assigned the adjective ‘original’ to anything you have ever done, you must acknowledge that you have inventive powers.  Don’t think about making something from nothing … just acknowledge that you can solve problems better if you approach them with a different mind-set.”

“The question isn’t ‘How creative are you?’ but rather ‘How are you creative?’  Innovation is rarely a one-step deal;  the trick is figuring out how you solve problems.  ; That way, you can build on your strengths and team up with people who compensate for your weaknesses.”

“Search for inspiration.  Go to a museum or sit for a few minutes in a beautiful building or park….  Try to notice all of the aesthetically pleasing details surrounding you.”

“Creativity guru Julia Cameron swears by free writing (no self-censoring) until you fill three pages.  Get intrusive worries out and productive ideas flowing.”

“… your waking hours are best since they enable you to apply your ’sleep thinking’ to glitches in your haiku-writing, furniture designing, or quilting….  Carving out morning time for a creative pursuit is a way to infuse the rest of your day with existential meaning.”

“Hit a blue note.  Decorate your cubicle or home office in blue, since a study showed that blue surroundings boost creativity.”