National Creativity Day began in 2018, dedicating a day to celebrating creativity in all its forms. It aims to inspire people to harness their creativity, be curious about their surroundings and think outside the box.
Creativity has many benefits for children, playing a crucial role in development beyond artistic expression, problem-solving and social skills will be enhanced when creativity is used and encouraged.
Celebrate creativity by encouraging different activities.
Get moving and choreograph a dance💃🏻
Many people who grew up in the early 2010s will remember the iconic ‘Bone Dance’ scene from Hannah Montana. In an attempt to make biology fun and memorable Hannah and her friends create a song and dance to learn the bones of the human body. As a member of Gen-Z, I am unsure whether to be proud or ashamed to say that I can still recite this song.
Take a leaf out of Disney Channel’s book and encourage your children to create their version of an educational song and make difficult topics fun and memorable. Children will learn how to work in a team, express themselves and get moving when completing this activity, and who knows it may stick with them over 15 years later!
Re-enact a moment from history using DIY ⚔️
Teach resourcefulness and creativity by creating a scene from history with objects found in the classroom. Try mixing up your history lesson and reenacting a scene from the Roman Empire using cardboard and other materials to fashion a sword and shield. This is a brilliant low-cost way to encourage critical thinking, the students can compete to create the most durable sword and shield (safely of course!) and test different techniques to discover the best design.
Write a poem or story ✍🏻
Give your students a short prompt or a list of words to include and watch their creativity flow onto paper as they harness their imagination and develop characters, storylines and plot twists. Your students will discover a new form of self-expression and each story will differ greatly from their peers. Once these stories have been written encourage students to share their work in a storytime scenario to build self-confidence and public speaking skills.
Creating lesson plans like the above can instil a lifelong passion for learning and education, and may become core memories of a student’s school journey. Creativity Day is an opportunity to celebrate and show appreciation for artists, makers and creatives worldwide. Still, the principles should be applied every day to see the true benefits of unleashing your creative spark.
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