Your Final Creativity Mission: Recolor Your World

Header image created by Iris Lawson, Age 12 We have one final family-fun creative activity for you! In case you missed our first five missions, you can access them here: “Create Your Own Family Camp,” “Family Game Night With a Creative Twist,” “A Colorful Scavenger Hunt in Nature,”  “Summer of Surprises,” and Going Beyond Your […]

A Colorful Scavenger Hunt in Nature

Activity Three: A Scavenger Hunt in Nature Our third activity centers on the skill, Visualize it Richly and Colorfully. This skill is all about identifying vivid, rich, and colorful imagery in your surroundings. It is essential to be able to use vivid, rich imagery to convey ideas in any domain- whether you’re a scientist aiming […]

Mandatory Fun: How to Bring a Little Play Into the High School Classroom

I’m not sure where it says in the original teaching manual that you aren’t not supposed to have fun in school, especially high school. I suppose the original mission was to transform teenage students into adults who were serious and ready for the world. The fact is today’s high school students are more aware of […]

Let’s play! Ideas to Engage your Children in Creative Play

Play energizes us and enlivens us.  It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities. – Stuart Brown, MD The following are excerpts from the book, My Sandwich is a Spaceship: Creative Thinking Activities for Parents with Young Children.  You can learn more about the book […]

Fail + Learn = Flearn:
8 Ways to Embrace a Creative Mindset

As a parent of teens and an elementary school educator, I can say that this year has been a stressful one for students. Connecting has been more challenging than ever. It is also more essential than ever. It takes a lot of time and effort to create a classroom culture that nurtures a creative mindset.  […]

Highlight the Essence: My Quest for Bringing Creativity into my ELA Lessons

January ushers in a much anticipated New Year —a chance to look back and look forward during a dizzying time for all. While there were unspeakable challenges in 2020, there have also been opportunities for creativity, collaboration, and growth.   Back in March, when the pandemic hit, I realized that my elementary and middle school students […]

Beautiful OOps for Adults

Let’s play with Beautiful Oops!

A torn sheet of paper.  A little drip of paint.  A smudge and a smear.  “OOPS!”   Often times, children (and adults!) are paralyzed when they have an oops.  However, what if we were to take an oops and turn it into something beautiful?  This is the wonder-filled lesson of the children’s book, Beautiful Oops, written […]

Let’s Play!
A List of Children’s Books to Spark Creativity

When my children were young, I became enamored with children’s books.  In just five minutes, I could have a cuddle with my little one as we journeyed through a delightful story full of fun and visually captivating characters.  I would sneak off to garage sales on the weekends, where I could easily find used children’s […]

The Many Faces of Ms. Teixeira

A few years ago, while leaving my classroom at dismissal, I ran into another teacher, who gave me an inquisitive look, puzzled by my extravagant style. (I think I was wearing a faux fur hat, boots, dramatic makeup, a gladiator belt over a winter dress… and more). In good humor, I paused, looked at my […]

The Cool Guy Game: Boredom, Free Play, and Creativity

My 6- and 8-year-olds play this game called “The Cool Guy Game.” They play All. The. Time. And it’s not in the way that many kids obsessively play with new toys and then quickly forget about them. They’ve been playing this game for years. Sometimes they play for hours at a time, multiple days per […]