Developing Creativity in Children

About this chapter

Developing Creativity in Children defines creativity as the ability to give novel responses, establish new relationships and produce original ideas — an ability found in all children but in different forms and degree. According to Davis, 90% of five-year-olds are highly creative but only 2% of twenty-five-year-olds are, because rigid parents, teachers, textbooks and exams condition the creative mind out of them. The chapter covers two types of creativity (verbal and non-verbal), the five steps of creative thinking (preparation, concentrated attention, withdrawal/incubation, flash, verification — illustrated by Archimedes' Eureka story), the four P-approaches that influence creativity (product, process, person, situational/press), Alex Osborn's brainstorming with its two stages and four ideation principles, attribute listing, Synectics, eight types of creativity-fostering questions (redefining, consequences, hypothetical, provocative, new-relationships, divergent, challenging-assumptions, future-problem-solving), the role of ICT, and Guilford-Torrance assessment of creativity through fluency, flexibility, originality, inquisitiveness, persistency and elaboration. CTET Paper I CDP tests this as part of the Inclusive Education / Pedagogy block. The four tests — Practice 15, Quiz 15, Hard 15, Mastery 30 — cover all six topics at CTET depth.