Asserting that playfulness is an important part of learning to work with others, as well as for attaining traits such as flexible thinking, persistence, commitment, and a love of and fascination with learning, this article presents a review of playfulness development, focusing on children age three to five, and describes 12 teaching-learning…

Provides creative ways child caregivers can use large and small cardboard boxes to create play and learning environments for young children. (HTH)

This paper discusses the dialectics of creativity, especially in group behavior; notes how stabilizing influences result in hard-programed behavior; outlines habits of thinking, learning, and behaving that help in developing creative potential; and presents exercises to encourage flexibility in the group creative process and counter inhibiting…

Presents suggestions for improving the teaching of communication: use written messages, provide purposeful activities, build student confidence, encourage "special" students, be enthusiastic, have a positive attitude, and allow students to be creative. (CT)

Five different perspectives on creativity in teaching are examined: (1) Creativity is developed by making teaching methods from almost nothing. (2) Creativity is fostered by idealizing without constraint. (3) Creativity can be developed through analogs. (4) Creativity can mean to reorganize or modify. (5) Creativity can be fostered using a forced…

This article provides 20 principles to enable educators to identify meaningful creative activities for gifted students and avoid the superfluous "whistles". Activities should: value creative thinking, make children more sensitive to environmental stimuli, encourage manipulation of objects and ideas, develop tolerance for new ideas, and teach how…

Intended for parents of gifted students, the manual provides suggestions for understanding and working with the gifted child. The first section includes an overview of the nature of giftedness, talent, creativity, and intelligence; an analysis of special problems encountered by the gifted student (underachievement, cultural differences, learning…

To enable college students to grapple with their own process of creating, students complete a project that involves collecting a variety of small objects, dividing the objects into two categories, telling a story using all the objects, describing their feelings about the categorization and story-telling activities, and writing about their creative…

This article discusses how creative thinking can be encouraged in students through such classic tools as brainstorming and the productive thinking elements of fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. It describes how fairy tales can be used to foster these thinking skills and suggests classroom activities. (Contains two references.) (CR)

The article describes a curriculum used in gifted programming which is based on Guilford's Structure of Intellect (SOI) theory of intelligence. Sourcebooks and individual SOI modules have been developed to train over 90 kinds of intellectual ability. Five categories of intellectual ability are defined (cognition, memory, evaluation, convergent…

The computer can provide students with opportunities for creativity, if good software is selected and students are provided instruction in its use. Software that promotes creativity includes word processing programs, programs that permit students to write and use their own personal programs, and programs that teach and encourage thinking skills.…

The CREST (Creative Resources Enriching Student Talents) Project, an enrichment approach for elementary gifted, talented, and creative students, is described. The project is explained to incorporate an interdisciplinary approach to instruction in art and science using resources within the community. Chapter 1 outlines the project philosophy,…

Considers both teacher-initiated and child-initiated strategies for enhancing young children's self-expression and creativity, based on the philosophy of the preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Discusses how the classroom can be modified to best support children's emerging creativity. (HTH)

Recognizing that children need enrichment at home, this book offers hundreds of unusual ways for kids and parents to spend time together. It also demonstrates the fun people can have while learning, and the learning that goes on while having fun. Using this book as a guide, parents and children can survey new subjects ranging from cultural…

Noting children's need for enrichment at home, this book offers hundreds of unusual ways for children and parents to spend time together. Using this book as a guide, parents and children can survey new subjects ranging from cultural diversity to photography, journal keeping, psychology, food science, gardening, and sports science. The activities…