What have you created?

Happy New Year! I hope you had a restful and restorative holiday break and that you are allowing yourself to ease gently back into the the rhythm of work and teaching. I think it’s important to acknowledge that our physical, mental, and emotional energy levels need time to return to normal after a break, so be kind and patient with yourself as you transition back into post-holiday life.

Over my Christmas break, I intentionally spent time on some creative projects I don’t get around to as often as I would like. I got started on a sewing project by cutting out the pattern (for me, the most daunting step that makes the rest feel doable) and tried out two new knitting patterns.

As my creative juices started flowing, I began to ponder a question: Does everyone have a creative side that goes dormant when it doesn’t have an outlet for expression? I started to think about some of the different ways people might exercise their creativity:

• choosing colors and design elements for a home

• creating a landscape or garden design

• planning and preparing a meal

• decorating a cake

• photography

• woodworking

• jewelry making

• drawing or painting

• sewing

• knitting or crocheting

• embroidery or cross stitch

• hair styling

• nail art

• and on and on. . .

Some of these fall under the heading of “hobbies” and students with this type of creative interest may have had the opportunity to share about them in a class discussion. But have you ever specifically asked your class to talk about something they created?

Asking students to share about a specific creative accomplishment provides the opportunity for them to show something they are proud of creating, not just something they do to while away their free time. When you talk about hobbies, watching TV and drawing are equals. However, if you switch gears to discuss something your students have created, passive hobbies like TV magically disappear from the conversation!

You can try introducing this conversation in an upcoming class, perhaps even the first day back when you’re asking students to share about what they did over their winter break. Here are some prompts you might use to get students thinking about things they have created recently or in the past:

• Have you ever created something with wood, metal, fabric, yarn, or clay?

• Do you like to draw or paint?

• Do you ever create your own recipe?

• Have you ever decorated a cake?

• Have you ever designed an indoor or outdoor space?

• Have you ever restored or repainted a vehicle?

• Do you enjoy taking artistic photos?

• Do you enjoy coming up with creative hairstyles?

• Do you enjoy choosing colors, furniture, and decorations for your house?

For students at lower levels, you can create a sentence framework for them to talk about something they have created, for example: “I enjoy ____. One time I made a ___.”

You might even ask students to show a photo of what they created, or even bring the actual item to class!

Higher level students might enjoy discussing creativity in more abstract terms: What makes an activity creative? What is the difference between making something and using creativity? My daughter and I had an interesting conversation along these lines the other day. Here are some questions you can ask to prompt students’ discussion:

• Is cooking creative? Is it only creative when you are making your own recipe, or can it count as a creative activity when you’re following a recipe?

• We understand that drawing and painting are creative activities, but what about paint-by-number, or a step-by-step drawing tutorial?

• Is sewing, knitting, embroidery, etc. creative if you’re following a pattern?

• Can remodeling be creative? What about repairing or restoring something?

As you can see, the deeper you go, the more interesting this topic becomes!

I hope you enjoy tapping into your students’ creativity (and maybe igniting your own as well!) and inviting them to share about something they are proud of creating.

As always, I would love to hear how you use and adapt this idea in your own classroom!

Happy teaching,

Bethany