The Concept of Creativity

 To define the term Creativity  To be able to discuss the characteristics of a creative person  To understand the importance of process over product  To explain how the environment affects a child’s willingness to express creativity  To understand the difference between convergent and divergent thinking.

 Creativity—the process of bringing something new into being. The ability to produce something novel, something with the stamp of uniqueness upon it.  “capital C” creativity—The kind of creativityf that involves bringing into existence something genuinely new that receives social validation enough to be added to the culture. (Ex: Invention of the light bulb)

 “Small c” creativity—This type of creativity involves ideas or products that are new to the person, but only to the person.  Convergent thinking—Thinking that results in a single solution or answer to a question or problem.  Divergent Thinking—Thinking that opens things up and results in many answers to a single problem.

 A. Dog  B. Cat  C. Coat (Fur)  D. Canary

 Think of to use a brick. (You have two minutes.)  1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6.  7.  ……….. 100….10000

 What, wath, waht, whta, wtha, wtah  Awht, awth, athw, atwh, ahwt, ahtw  Thaw, thwa, tawh, tahw, twah, twha  Htaw, htwa, hatw, hawt, hwta, hwat  How many of these are words?

 Process over Product—Exploration and experimentation with materials are more important in the creative sense than the product, or end result.  Characteristics of creativity—Behavior that is associated with the creative personality. Some of these are stubbornness, finding faulty with things, appearing haughty and self-satisfied, and being discontented. Others are determination, curiosity, intuition, a willingness to take risks, a preference for complex ideas, a sense of humor.