One of the things I love about living in Ann Arbor is that we have fairies living here. Lots of them. You doubt? We have fairy doors all over town. We have a fairy car that appears regularly at our annual car show. And of course we all know that in the summer the woods … Continue reading
One of my favorite events of the year is the annual Art Fairs (actually 4-fairs-in-one) that take over downtown Ann Arbor during the third week of July. It is invariably hot, sticky, crowded, and glorious. There is art you would expect (paintings, sculpture, glass, fiber) and much you might not—bowling ball jewelry, sculptures made of … Continue reading
Soon it is going to be time for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. For all of us who would love to be in London but can’t make it, here are some ideas for family fun with your own Olympics. Your Olympics can be for your family or the whole neighborhood, but it is sure … Continue reading
I’m not sure why summer makes me think of animals. It may be because in Michigan, most forms of animal life seem to hunker down for the winter and rejoice when summer appears. Or maybe I just want an excuse to show you the great “animal hands” art below. Either way, for this week, animals … Continue reading
What says summer more than a pitcher of lemonade? Today’s Family Fun collection is a guest post from Kaylynn, whose blog A Teacher Without a Class is full of ideas for family activities that are educational and fun. I asked her for five lemon-y ideas that would support creativity. She gave me seven. Would I … Continue reading
How would you like to spend 20% of your time doing something creative, just because you think it is interesting? Sound impossible? It’s not. Here’s one example. One of the most famous “perks” of working at Google is that for many employees, twenty percent of their time can be used on any project they choose. … Continue reading
You never know where a book will take you. In this case, the book Little Paper Planes has taken me on a host of high-flying adventures. The book itself is a treasure of creativity. In it, twenty artists present their interpretations of paper planes, from fairly conventional gliders to a shark plane, a balloon plane, … Continue reading
Recently, The New York Times has been publishing the results of its Found Poetry contest for students. This is a grand opportunity to introduce students to the poetic form of found poetry and to share exceptional examples of work done by high school students. Found poetry takes words and phrases from existing texts, rearranges them … Continue reading
This is the story of three “aha” moments regarding students with special needs and creativity. A few years ago I was teaching a basic research class that is taken by students in a number of masters’ degree programs. Several of the students, knowing I had written Creativity in the Classoom, asked if I could take … Continue reading
One of the basic principles of creativity is that it often entails looking at something in a new way. Flexible thinking can help us look at something from another person’s point of view, from another angle, with another purpose, or in another form. One way we can help students think flexibly is by asking them … Continue reading
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