Hello, my dear colleagues! I am super excited to share this brand new article by our young student writer contributor, Roysa Swarmi. Roysa loves writing and has volunteer experience in education as a workshop leader and teacher assistant in special needs and general classrooms. Roysa is now completing her high school education and planning to attend a medical university. Her writing is shared the same way she sent it, without any edits, because we want to keep the individuality and the voice of our youngest article contributors. Enjoy reading about creativity in the classroom from her perspective!
Creativity is what makes us human; creativity is what allows us to invent, create and conquer.
Creativity is what makes us human; creativity is what allows us to invent, create and conquer, and this is what makes it so essential to instill our youngsters with this skill and ensure that we never stop moving forward. Therefore, it is essential to introduce these skills early on in childhood. And what better way is there to do this than to incorporate enjoyable activities in school? Take a look.
1. Encourage your students to read
Creativity is introduced to young minds generally through literature, where the creations of others encourage them to build their visions. Literature benefits children by allowing them to make their conclusions, mixing a little bit of literature, fantasy, and imagination to create their own mental images.
Encourage your students to read, not ‘see’ literature. Avoid playing videos in language lessons. Allow them to fuel their imagination, develop the characters’ outfits themselves, and build the setting by themselves. To encourage them further, ask your students to develop their own storylines when they read the title and ask them to predict the storyline.
2. Thematical weeks
Decorate your classroom with your students to match the theme of the week! The theme could be anything: Gladiator Space Robots, Princesses, Pirate Ships, and even Saving the Ocean. Encourage your students to relate whatever they learn to the “Theme of the week”.
3. Art in your classroom
Arts and crafts are a fantastic way to enhance creativity and sure are fun too. Holding themed art lessons can be an excellent way of enhancing creativity while allowing them to have fun, along with developing their skills. Encourage the use of bright colors, and appreciate imperfection and uniqueness.
Appreciate imperfection and uniqueness.
#4: Problem-Solving
Problem-solving is a skill that grows with the art of creativity. Introduce your students to small problems, and encourage them to write all possible solutions they can think of in their notebooks. Think like an architect leading a group of engineers. Encourage them to read their work aloud and have a healthy discussion on what they think is the most appropriate solution.
Think like an architect leading a group of engineers.
5. Encourage Color
Who likes the mundane, blue-grey-lined notebooks with the teacher’s red ink marks across the corner? Encourage your students to decorate their notebooks in whatever way they like, and appreciate them for their good work. To take this a step further, you can also give each student a different theme to work with and allow them to design their notebooks accordingly.
To conclude
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” These words by Albert Einstein, a young student with an aversion to the mundane, dry education system during his childhood, still hold true. Creativity is a form of intelligence that is essential to develop students’ cognitive and problem-solving skills. Making it enjoyable and fun makes it even better, improving the school environment and encouraging hands-on learning.
How do you approach creativity in your classroom? What do you think about Roysa’s thoughts? Let us know down in the comments, or via the contact page, we would love to hear your opinion!
Roysa Swarmi is a student at Delhi Private School Dubai, currently studying in the 12th grade.
She has earned many awards, including the Scholar Badge Award eight times, the Wizkid Award seven times, the Academic Excellence Award twice, and the External Examination Award once. She believes in the inclusion of children with special needs in educational programs. In December 2021, she volunteered at Tender Hearts Dubai, a special needs organization, where her role was teaching, caregiving, and organizing games and activities for children with special needs.
A strong believer in positive thinking, she has found great benefits in implementing wellness measures in her own life, including meditation and yoga.
