One of my favorite activities to reinforce creativity is to give the kids some kind of shape-a circle, a squiggle, a straight line and ask them to incorporate that shape into creating some sort of design. For example-a circle could be a wheel on a car, a snowman head, a sun, etc. The first shape I give them is a squiggle because 85% of the class will turn it into a snake. And while I make it very clear, there's nothing wrong with a snake, next time I want them to try to come up with something no one else thought of, it becomes a lesson on originality. It's also very telling to me who has an innate creativity. Here are some of what they came up with on the 1st try.
a muffin
a self-portrait (the description later changed to an alien portrait).
a hat
a generator (this student is obsessed with anything mechanical)
8
snowman
Very creative group this early on IMHO:)
ReplyDeleteI love squiggles, even with adults. It's interesting to see the creativity. Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteDo you give each child a different squiggle? Or do you make one squiggle, photocopy the paper, and then distribute it to the students? I'm assuming you give each child a different squiggle to ensure that the kiddos don't "share" their creativity. lol
ReplyDeleteI actually usually do photocopy it (we've been having copier issues-that's why I drew it with marker here). But you definitely could give different kids different ones and see what they come up with. ;)
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