How To Catch A Star

I love Oliver Jeffers and found this book:

Which is an endearing little story about a little boy's attempts to catch a star.

I asked the kids to tell me how they would catch a star and they came up with some incredibly creative answers! :)

One of the things I hear all the time from other teachers is how kids today just don't know how to think creatively. This is an example of how you can teach them that skill. At the beginning of the year, if we had done this activity my answers would have all been ladders and nets. This time when I did it, sure I got some ladders and nets--however I also got beanstalks, flying carpets and a bunch of cowboys. This does not happen overnight! This happens from almost daily doing activities like this that require them to think creatively and afterward sharing with the students the ones that I found to be creative. Nothing wrong with ladders and nets, but I encourage them to come up with something that no one else in the class thought of-that is the expectation I set.  I do not give up. And eventually, they actually start to do just that. I think it goes against any theory that says you can't teach children to be creative!