Not long ago I wrote about how depressed I was by a Washington Post article titled, “Can Kickstarter save arts education?” It was full of gloomy statistics: Nearly one in 10 U.S. secondary schools has no music program. Eleven percent don’t teach art. More than half have cut theater. Nine in 10 have cut … Continue reading
“You did a good job.” “You did an incredibly job!” Which of these statements is most helpful to children? It depends. Recent research by Eddie Brummelman and colleagues (including my amazing friend Brad Bushman) suggests that inflated praise can backfire in the children who may receive it most. What’s inflated praise? The differences between non-inflated … Continue reading
In the busy moments of the holiday season–or any season for that matter–it is helpful to have a quick lesson to pull out in the 10 minutes before lunch. In one of those times you might want to pull out the story of the secret Nanas. It provides inspiration for both generosity and creativity–both particularly … Continue reading
My husband is a night person, plain and simple. He begins to be alert approaching noon (regardless of when he actually got out of bed) and works happily between midnight and 3 a.m. While I’m not an early-morning person, once I’m awake, I’m awake, but anything I do past 11 p.m. is not to be … Continue reading
Where do creative kids go to publish their latest story, poem, editorial, review, or just about anything else? One possible answer is Creative Kids magazine. Creative Kids is a magazine “by kids, for kids” ages 8-16—it even has a brand new advisory board of students aged 7-15. Creative Kids aims to include prose, poetry and … Continue reading
How can anyone who cares about creativity not love this? On the chance that you missed it on Tumblr, Facebook, Good Morning America or the Huffington Post, here’s a tribute to Dinovember, the month plastic dinosaurs come to life. Dinovember is the creation of Refe and Susan Tuma, of Kansas City, MO, who wanted to … Continue reading
Do you have plans for November 21, 2013? How about joining an effort to create the largest children’s art event in history? (And U.S. teachers, a Thanksgiving-appropriate activity to boot!) Last year Everyartist.me, brainchild of artist Brendan O’Connell, set the World Record for a collection of children’s art. In April 2012, 8,416 young artists filled … Continue reading
Google is an amazing company on many fronts, and the one of the most recent is the Google Science Fair. Google Science Fair is an online science competition for teenagers across the globe. The fair is sponsored by Google, Lego, National Geographic, Scientific American and CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Recently the winners … Continue reading
This feels a bit like a birth announcement. While the labor involved is a lot less painful, the birthing of a book–even a revision like this one–is a long process. I’m delighted to share the happy news that the 5th Edition of Creativity in the Classroom: Schools of Curious Delight is now available. I hate … Continue reading
Every once in a while I see an example of creativity that is so good I just have to share it, and hope you will share it with your students. This is one of them. It comes from Lima, Peru. Lima is a city of more than 7 million people, in a difficult and somewhat … Continue reading
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