PreKandKSharing: THE CYCLE OF CREATIVITY - How to create anything from nothing

THE CYCLE OF CREATIVITY

Whether we have the desire to create something ourselves...

Whether we are guiding young children and helping them understand that they can create anything...

Whether you are leading an organization and you want to empower those whom you guide to be more creative...

Enrique Feldman delivering a keynote address at the First Things First Conference in Phoenix, AZ, August, 2015

We live in an increasingly visual environment. So, what does the creative process look like?

For children, it can be a moment in the kitchen with mom and/or dad and being part of the creation of a meal. Key to any moment would be the quality of the questions we ask while engaged. Open ended questions lead to a much more profound sense of creativity and begin to build a comfort level with the unknown with any age learner.

Mixing Paints and Pixels! Handmade Art mixed with Digital Art

Using different forms of Art can be a wonderful approach to opening up the creative process, as can collaboration. Assuming it is authentic collaboration, it can lead to synergy. By authentic, I mean an environment where everyone feels safe enough to bring their ideas to the conversation.

Creativity can most easily be stirred in us when we connect to a passion we have. When we begin to connect our sense of passion with others, creativity typically takes a leap forward in terms of the presence it has in our daily lives.

As children, we create everyday in most happy childhood situations. As adults, we quite often see creativity as a bonus, something we can sometimes engage... a luxury.

However, when we remember what it is to be a fully present human being, we are reminded of how much we have to learn from children. When we can find ways to create on a daily basis as adults, & live again like children, we find ourselves truly present in our daily lives and the cycle of creativity can become a way of life.

Early Childhood Educators experiencing iBG, Intellectual Brainwave Games, Original cognition and perspective games which remind us how it feels to learn something new!

Certainly, curiosity is connected to creativity...

There is a sequence of thought that, once engaged, will help you engage your inner sense of creativity and the feeling is like few others in life. It is with great pleasure and authentic joy that I share this sequence with you. I call it the...

Cycle of Creativity

INSPIRATION

What inspires you?

There are many ways to ask this question. For a young child it may start with "What do you like?" "What makes you excited?" I've decided to guide you through this cycle from both an adult and child perspective. Here we go!

ADULT PERSPECTIVE

Upon asking some adult friends of mine, many responded with one word... Chocolate! I wonder where the inspiration of chocolate will take us?

CHILD PERSPECTIVE

Upon asking some children what they loved and what excited them, some responded with... Ants! Hmmmm.... so many places this inspiration could take us, and actually took my daughter and me on a learning journey that has lasted for many years.

POV (Point of View)

What point of view do you choose and why do you choose this point of view?

ADULT PERSPECTIVE

So in this example, chocolate was the inspiration. I asked one of my friends who said chocolate and they wanted to explore chocolate from the perspective of chicken wings... wow... I would not have thought of that. I asked this individual why, and they responded with, "I love chicken wings and I love chocolate and I wonder if the two could work together."

CHILD PERSPECTIVE

In asking the child who said "Ants!" I asked, from what point of view? They didn't know what that meant, so we got down on the ground to see what things might look like from the eyes of an Ant and the young learner said, "Everything looks bigger!" The chosen point of view was how things look from an ant's eyes!

A tree from the point of view of an ant!

London from the perspective of an ant!

The above image of London is from a real website that looks at London from the perspective of an ant... I thought that was so inventive I just HAD to share it!

MESSAGE

What message do you choose to share from the perspective of your POV?

ADULT PERSPECTIVE

So far, from the adult response we have:

Inspiration: Chocolate

POV: Chicken Wings

So what message did my friend choose? Health benefits of chocolate is what they chose. Why I asked? They responded without hesitation, "I'd like to justify the eating of chocolate." Brilliant...

CHILD PERSPECTIVE

So far, from the child response we have:

Inspiration: Ants

POV: How things look from the Ant's eyes

In continuing my conversation with the young learner, I asked, "what is something important you want to share with others about the ants?" Their response was priceless...

"Pretend you're an ant and see everything"

I interpreted this as "Go on an adventure!" Perhaps it would become "explore the world!"

Sam the Ant - a new children's book series

CONCEPT

What concept do you choose to focus on that best shares your message?

ADULT PERSPECTIVE

So far, from the adult response we have:

Inspiration: Chocolate

POV: Chicken Wings

Message: Health Benefits of Chocolate

The conversation with my friend was picking up as they were showing a great deal of curiosity as to where this could lead. For their concept related to what they might create, they chose, "Healthy treat ideas!" They were all in, in part because they were creating the framework of creation.

CHILD PERSPECTIVE

So far, from the child response we have:

Inspiration: Ants

POV: How things look from the Ant's eye

Message: Explore the world!

In continuing the conversation with this child, the idea of what should the big idea be? What is a concept we could create and this particular child said, "I want to make my own story... my own book!" I'm so glad I paid attention :)

CONTENT

What is the specific content which will best share your concept?

ADULT PERSPECTIVE

So far, from the adult response we have:

Inspiration: Chocolate

POV: Chicken Wings

Message: Health Benefits of Chocolate
Concept: Healthy Treat Ideas!

The conversation turned from concept to content, as in, ok... now that we have identified a lot of key details.... what do you want to create?! The response was so cool.... "I want to create a chocolate based BBQ sauce that can be used with all sorts of cooking!" I asked, "What about the healthy treat ideas?" The response was so adorable.... "I'd like to change the concept to... healthier treat ideas." Hahaaaaaahaa.... so, the cycle of creativity, like most cycles, is not always linear!

CHILD PERSPECTIVE

So far, from the child response we have:

Inspiration: Ants

POV: How things look from the Ant's eye

Message: Explore the world!
Concept: I want to make my own story... my own book!

Some of you know where this is headed and that it is based on the real life story of my daughter. When it came to the content, the actual stuff of the story, she wanted to create an Ant story where the Ant was always able to figure out what to do when there were challenges. Today, we describe this as "embracing adversity as opportunity." She is in fact the little girl who wanted to create her own book, and guess what.... yep, we did it and we're creating 27 of them. The first one, Sam the Ant - The Flood came out in July of 2016 and the second one, Sam the Ant - Glow in the Dark, comes out this month! Barnes & Noble even picked it up for in-store purchase in 4 locations thus far.

A page from the new children's book series, Sam the Ant at www.SamTheAnt.com

PRODUCT

What is the product that speaks to content, concept, message, POV, and how is it inspiring?

ADULT PERSPECTIVE

So far, from the adult response we have:

Inspiration: Chocolate

POV: Chicken Wings

Message: Health Benefits of Chocolate
Concept: Healthier Treat Ideas!
Content: Chocolate Based BBQ Sauce
Product: Dark Chocolate BBQ Sauce

Ahhhhh.... the product.... so often, people begin with the product in mind, and sometimes you get lucky and it works. However, it is far more productive to begin with inspiration first. In this case, the product this person wanted to come up with was a Dark Chocolate BBQ sauce, so that the it wasn't overly sweet and could be matched with spices that pick up the earthiness of the chocolate! Yum!!!!

CHILD PERSPECTIVE

So far, from the child response we have:

Inspiration: Ants

POV: How things look from the Ant's eye

Message: Explore the world!
Concept: I want to make my own story... my own book!
Content: An Ant who always knows what do do when there is a challenge (embracing adversity as opportunity)
Product: Sam the Ant Children's Book Series

Today, this series continues to unfold and evolve and the response has been tremendous and heart warming, in large part from the initial inspiration of Ants!