The author critically examines nine assumptions about creativity commonly held by preservice elementary art teachers, such as "all children have creativity,""creativity can be taught and learned,""art skills hinder creativity," and "creativity is good." (SJL)

Impromptu storytelling techniques are creative and interesting ways to introduce children to the adventure and allure of storytelling, which in turn aids their cognitive and social development. Presents several activities designed to elicit impromptu storytelling, including sentence stories, name tales, "every day is special" stories,…

Defining creativity as a process that draws upon talents, education, skills, thinking and working styles, and inherent intelligence, and pinpointing motivation as the single most important ingredient in the creativity recipe, this book provides dozens of concrete, hands-on exercises and techniques that can help a parent or teacher keep creativity…

This paper examines the nature of creativity and the nourishing of children's creativity. One definition of creativity focuses on two of its aspects, of novelty and usefulness. Other definitions that stress one or the other of these aspects are discussed. According to M. Rhoades (1961), the four components of creativity are: (1) people--their…

This paper recommends that poetry rather than other literary forms be used to teach creative reading and writing to young children. The advantages of using poetry are described as follows: inhibitions are overcome quickly; opportunities for a wider range and more complex level of student achievement are created; high quality pieces of writing are…

Creative musical experiences appropriate to children's cognitive and psychomotor development should begin in kindergarten. Structured creativity through the process of musical composition can be used at grade 4 and above. Lesson plans using Haiku poetry, penatonic scales, rhythmic durations, and melodic contour to create a song are provided. (VW)

Discusses several ways computers, software, and peripheral equipment may aid in teaching dyslexic children to read, i.e., using voice synthesizers and speech software; employing human readers to translate what's on the screen; utilizing word processing functions; using microcomputers to control tape recorders; and utilizing "creativity…

An enrichment program based on the Purdue Three-Stage Model (creative thinking abilities, creative problem solving, and independent study and research skills) resulted in no significant differences in self-concept scores for 199 gifted elementary participants compared to control Ss. Participants did, however, show significant differences in…

Explains and describes a creative cycle by which the child is first stimulated to creative expression and secondly guided by the teacher to communicate that expression. (MM)

Discusses ways of using literature to teach language arts creatively. (MM)

The article describes two one-hour sessions in image making, which serves as the foundation of the creative language arts program used by the author in teaching poetry and writing to children (grades K through 5). (SBH)

Recounts a personal experience as a first grader to illustrate the point that teachers must remember to encourage rather than stifle students' creativity. (NH)

Uses a case-study approach to examine the role of belief as a catalytic quality in the artistic making and the thinking processes used by children. Describes the processes encountered by children when presented with artistic tasks. Discusses the relationship between belief and the three other main dimensions of artistic thinking and making: social…

Describes an entertaining approach to use in stimulating creative thinking in elementary science. (JMB)