What is Creativity?
Creativity is one’s ability to make or produce tangible or intangible newer things using skill or imagination.
It involves going beyond the laid out norms and traditional thinking and developing new original ideas or objects and a measure of one’s individual creative intelligence is what is known as creative quotient.
For very long, skills in art have been known as a good measure of an individual’s creativity (Oh Wow! You paint very well, you are very creative.)
But before we jump to the discussing the ways in which CQ can be improved, let’s talk about why do we need creativity in daily life.
A lot many of you would have trusted your hand at using Artificial Intelligence such as the Open-AI project called DALL-E 2 which can convert any text description into an image just like an actual painter would basis on some given brief.
So can machines replace the human creativity?
A computer program including an AI takes decisions based on some set rules of an algorithm and hence is limited in terms of generating new original ideas and hence this creative aspect is what keeps humans ahead of the machines.
How to be more creative?
To be your most creative self, you need to make your mind exist in a state of divergent thinking. When you don’t know the process or the rules is when you can be most creative.
Imagine the situation of a new born child, a perfect example of creative best, when all your ideas are new and original. A high risk taking ability combined and the ability of making peace with one’s failure is a good sign of a person with high creativity quotient.
One activity that comes to my mind to check the creative quotient in your child is by asking them to use only a circle shape and draw for 2 minutes.
The response is then measured on basis of
1. Fluency (How many different responses)
2. Flexibility (How many types of responses)
3. Originality (The unusualness of responses)
4. Elaboration (The detailing of the responses).
So yes, some kids are born with higher right brain function suitable for imagination but creativity can be encouraged and taught if given a canvas wide enough for it to develop.
Few tips and tricks that you can use to boost creativity in your children are:
1. Introduce your kids to learning how to play music –
Simple instruments such as keyboards or signing them up for a music class is a great start for fostering their creativity.
2. Taking them on creative excursion trips –
As the child explores new environment, senses get simulated. From museum visits to visiting a theatre to watch plays are some of the ways to educate your child and fuel their imagination.
3. Storytelling and reading is another way that fosters creativity -
From a young age when you read to them to their teenage when you should encourage them to have a silent reading time will not only promote literacy and improve their language and grammar but will also improve the upon their CQ.
4. To the Space and beyond –
Nothing captures a child’s imagination than exploring outer space. Visit to Planetarium to engage with Space or watching appropriate science-fiction can enhance not only their passion towards science but also up their imaginative quotient.
5. Breaking monotonous routine –
Looking at novel ways to do the same daily tasks helps to improve cognitive skills. Simple changes as brushing your teeth with your other hand will throw them off-guard and challenge the brain to adapt.
All in all the whole idea of engagement should be to focus on process and not the product or the end result.
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