One of the biggest concerns that many modern-day teachers face is the astounding loss of creativity in the classroom. The loss of creativity is partly because of the school system, but it can also come from a home environment where parents either think that creativity is a waste of time or they expect their child to become the next Mozart.
The thing with creativity is that it should be more about the enjoyment of it, rather than producing the next prodigal child – and parents and sometimes teachers seem to have forgotten that.
So, it is important to provide learning resources for both parents and children that will encourage creativity in the classroom. Here are three of our favorite exercises to introduce in the classroom that gives your students the capacity to enjoy their creativity:
Let them choose their own projects
Creativity should never be forced, and some children simply aren’t as gifted as others in certain departments, but they could be extremely talented in others. Letting children choose their own open-ended projects is a sure way to get the best out of your little students.
For younger children, you could have a group of projects to choose from. For example, if it is an art project, allow the kids to choose whether they want to paint or draw. Older children can be given a little more leeway and if you simply provide guidelines and help them create a rubric – you are sure to get a higher engagement rate if they are doing something that they are passionate about.
Creativity time
More often than not, we are finding that schools are not catering for creativity time in the classroom – which is absolutely essential for producing well-rounded adults. Creativity is a learning resource that allows children to try new things, experiment, and express themselves in new ways, and it’s important that you make time for this in your classroom.
Whether it is an hour every day, or half a day/full day every week – you should always set aside time for children to work on something creative. This could be art projects, building, music, theatre, and anything else creative that they are passionate about. The results of giving your children this time will be incredibly rewarding.
Team building and creativity
Sometimes as teachers, we’re so consumed by the need to see academic results that we often turn the classroom into a place of competition, rather than a place or participation and collaboration. Children love to work in groups with their friends, and getting them into teams is an excellent way to improve bonds and get everyone’s ideas into the project.
This is an amazing time to get them to do problem-solving. Puzzles, building blocks, and tons of other simple toys can be used to promote unity and creativity in your classroom, and it is also bound to be a whole lot of fun.
As you can see, creativity really isn’t that hard to implement into the classroom and the benefits to your students will be endless. At Miniland, we strive to provide learning resources for teachers, as well as educational toys that promote learning through fun in the classroom.
Have a look at our brand new guide Getting the Most Versatility Out of Your Teaching Tools for more ideas and inspiration for the variety of subjects that you should be covering in your classroom.
