Creativity is an inherent aspect of the human being that enables him to adapt and develop to the environment that surrounds him. It is the factor that has fostered the evolution of civilizations and societies throughout history. Its use and development, in reality, is an essential aspect in the personal development of individuals as it allows them to evolve.
In the next article we will talk about creativity, its characteristics and the different ways and activities to develop it in children, adolescents and adults.
How to be more creative
The supposed achievement of new ideas, appropriate and of high quality that provide high added value to what already exists. There are different theories in this regard and each of them affects some aspects or others as enablers of creative action:
- It is a process that goes through several stages: preparation, incubation, illumination and verification
- the created product presents certain characteristics: novelty, peculiarity, ingenuity, etc.
- are determined by the personality: positive and active attitude
- is due to a characteristic mode of processing of information: fluidity, flexibility, originality, elaboration
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The different theories of creativity present aspects that are inclusive in a broader concept of creativity. There are not a few who consider that we all have a creative part within us and it is only about focusing on developing it. To do this, it will be necessary to adopt certain behaviors (cognitive, psychological, attitudinal, behavioral, etc.) necessary for our creative talent to find its way out.
How to stimulate creativity in children
There are approaches that consider that creativity is intrinsic to human beings. It manifests itself in a pure way and with few limitations during childhood. In reality, the main tool to stimulate creativity in children is let them be themselves. The fewer censorships, limitations and obstacles that are included in the child’s free play, the more creative he will be. There are activities and games that boost children’s creativity. Below we will see 4 proposals to stimulate creativity that are key for infants.
- The free game: resource par excellence for children to express (not so much develop) their creativity. Through it, they can connect with the environment in which they interact and express themselves freely. This freedom of expression results in totally creative manifestations.
- The tales: Another tool that encourages imagination and creative expression is children’s literature. Through stories, boys and girls immerse themselves in parallel worlds that allow them to access and create other realities. Here you will find a selection of.
- Workshops and plastic activities They encourage the artistic side of children. Art allows us to make totally original creations, expressions of the internal world of children.
- Conflict resolution It allows children, very connected to their creativity, to propose alternative solutions to common problems that, when adopted and agreed upon by them, facilitate conflict resolution, camaraderie and solidarity.
Activities to develop creativity in teenagers
Based on what was stated above, creativity is inherent to human beings and its clearest manifestation occurs in the childhood period. During the , rational and formal thinking develops and matures, which, although it is equally creative if critical thinking is enhanced, distances itself from certain possibilities of manifestation of creativity such as the artistic and the physical. It is important, therefore, to try encourage creativity of adolescents in the three areas. Some of the activities that we can carry out for this purpose would be:
- Literature contests
- Sports-recreational events
- Excursions (nature, cultural, etc.)
- Exhibition of paintings and artistic creations
- Symposium on various topics (history, ecology, science, etc.)
- Morning of traditional games or board games
- Body expression and dance day
Techniques to develop creativity in adults
Tina Seelig has proven that creative people have a series of non-innate traits that allow them to develop in an ingenious way. These are aspects that can be developed in any person, so it will be enough to put them into practice and maintain them, if we really want to develop our most creative side. How to develop creative thinking? Below we present 6 techniques to promote creativity in adults:
- Acquire knowledge: The first technique for developing creativity is learning. Knowledge is the fuel for the development of imagination.
- Exercise your imagination: allows you to transform knowledge into new ideas. Here you can see.
- Change your attitude: A vital, confident and optimistic attitude helps creative ideas flow. In the following article you can see.
- Reshape your context: the construction and design of the physical place where we work is a source of stimulation of creativity
- Explore your resources: own economic resources and those of companies and institutions, own and freely accessible material goods (e.g. natural resources), human resources (personal, business and institutional support network), etc.
- Re-educate your culture: rethinking cultural aspects can lead to the creation of new things
These are aspects that feed back on each other, so it is necessary to practice all of them so that our creative side can emerge more easily.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Casillas, M. Á. (1999). Important aspects of creativity to work in the classroom. Digital education magazine New era10.
- Durán Segura, E. (2017). Alternative to promote the development of Creativity through recreational activities in Adolescents (Master’s thesis, Faculty of Physical Culture).
- Ramírez, IC (2008). Development of creativity in Early Childhood Education. Creativity and societytwenty.
- Seelig, T. (2012). inGenius: A crash course on creativity. Hay House, Inc.