Childhood, Creativity, and Yoga

Think back to your childhood for a moment. If it were even remotely close to my own, your day may have went something like this...

Wake up, eat breakfast, walk to school, school (where you actually had music, art, P.E., recess, library), walk home, snack, outside to play, homework, dinner, and hopefully more outside play time until the porch came on. On the playground and on the "playstreet," many a problem was solved and so many games were invented -- complete with rules for how to play. None of it came from a box, a video game, or a TV. We learned conversation, how to get along or not. WE HAD IMAGINATION.

Remember that? What happened to our world? We've taken it all away, and it is our children that can suffer.

In a recent Newsweek article, "The Creativity Crisis," they give this definition of creativity:

"The accepted definition of creativity is production of something original and useful, and that’s what’s reflected in the tests. There is never one right answer. To be creative requires divergent thinking (generating many unique ideas) and then convergent thinking (combining those ideas into the best result)."

So, creativity isn't just for those in the art world? Of course it isn't! Creativity is for everyone and it needs to be taught in our schools once again. Children need to learn how to creatively solve problems, children need to question the world around them and figure out the answers.

I was looking back at my teaching journals. At the time I was reading, "The Eureka Effect" by David Perkins and "Cracking Creativity" by Michael Michalko. I was so into how kids learn and using creativity to help themselves and each other learn. If my students thought they were the only ones who could ask a lot of questions they were wrong! The learning in this way became theirs, not mine.

What would this look like? Here are a few examples of what I did in a kindergarten classroom.

I put in what I called "The Creation Station" during center time. Two tasks that I asked the children to complete: 1. Can you make a boat out of one piece of foil that will stay afloat and hold ten pennies? 2. Can you build a bridge using only straws between two tables 16 inches apart?

I remember watching them figure it out. How for some reason most kids chose to work individually on the boat task and they came together as a small group to work on the bridge project. The discussion the went on, the questioning, experimenting, stopping, drawing diagrams -- it was wonderful.

Another example. We studied Native Americans in the first 3 years that I taught at this school. Everything about the unit was me telling the children about this group of people. But, what were they learning? Did they have a clue as to why Native Americans lived as they did? What necessitated some living one way and another group living a different way. Remember these are 5-6 yo, so I still had to bring it to their developmental stage of learning. We looked at their learning from the standpoint of Native American children, long ago. I put away lots of the store bought games. I brought in things from outside -- rocks, sticks, leaves, nuts, dried corn cobs, etc. The children had to think of ways to use these things as if they were Native American children long ago. They created dolls and games. They began to understand why girls played with certain things and boys with others. Some made connections to playing dress up like their parents and how that play was to teach them how to be as an adult. Girls questioned if they had to stay home and take care of kids like their moms and boys asked if they could stay home with the kids if they wanted to. They discussed how people and life changes. They had what some would call, AHA! moments.

How does all of this play into yoga? Because of so many things being taken out of our schools, because our children are being "taught to the test", because video games and cell phones and TV can be such a huge part of their lives, because we are running through this existence at neck breaking speed -- our children need yoga more than ever.

To calm the mind, to find balance in the body, to close your eyes and visualize yourself in your very own private garden created just for you, to discuss and question. These are reasons why our children need yoga.

Yoga -- it does the body, mind, and spirit good.

Peace and Blessings,
Candace