Creativity At All Ages

Creativity is a very important part of the lives of children. It is an opportunity to truly express themselves and show their individuality. When they are able to be creative, they are able to show what is unique about them. Children are given the opportunities at home to be creative when they have unstructured play time but schools do not seem to fit time into the daily schedule for that unstructured free time where students can use their imagination in playing games, doing art projects, making up stories, and role playing. Most of the time, in schools students sit in their desks while the teacher lectures about the lesson. Even if they do have some free time, it isn't a significant amount of time. Children need time to be creative, which is outside the structured learning that takes place in most situations. The creativity that they express in art and music classes isn't enough because children may only have those classes once a week. Children need more time in schools to use their wild imaginations or else they will lose that sense of creativity. Teachers can encourage creativity and imagination by not always giving students set instructions, but giving them general instructions and allowing their imagination to do the rest. Teachers teach creativity by giving children the opportunities to be creative and also by being a creative teacher. When teachers demonstrate creativity through their teaching methods and displaying their creativity and imagination around their room, they are showing their students that anyone can be creative. It is not something that we should grow out of. If people slowly stop using their imagination, they will lose that creativity. If teachers do not encourage and demonstrate creativity and explain how important it is, children will not use their imagination. So many jobs that have been created in recent years are no longer the assembly line, same task each day kind of jobs. They require people to think outside the box and come up with new and interesting ideas. If teachers are not allowing their students to be creative in the classroom, they will not know how to use their imaginations in the work place. Facts are not the only things that teachers can teach in schools. In some cases, a wild imagination can get a person farther in life than only having learned the facts in school.