Just Read: "Your Creative Brain" by Shelley Carson, Ph.D

As part of an upcoming course on creativity, innovation & imagination I'll be taking next weekend, I've read a great book called "Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life" by Shelley Carson, Ph.D.

I was excited to read this book because, when I thumbed through it, it had quizzes and activities and I really love a book that gets me up and doing things rather than passively trying to muddle through and make sense of some dry textbook. The quizzes are short and the activities do not take long and can be done a little at a time. Hey, I read it and I have four kiddos at home for the summer!

This book was nicely written and accessible with clear examples and humor thrown in. I really enjoyed reading the book--it doesn't feel like a dry textbook. That being said, this book isn't fluff. It is chock full of information about seven different creative pathways or brainsets all people have and can use in life. After identifying which brainset(s) you are strong in and those you may want to develop, Carson delves into each, clearly describing each in detail, the neuroscience of each, and when you may want to access this brainset. She then gives exercises that will help get you accessing these brainsets even more.

Now all of this cognitive mumbo-jumbo may seem a bit heavy for your summer beach reading, but this book is worth the look, I promise! As a teacher and a mom, I am constantly looking for ways to encourage creativity in the children around me. As an ART teacher, I am usually told by people that they aren't creative. I've always thought that this couldn't possibly be true. OK, not everyone can paint with oils or write a symphony, but creativity exists well beyond that! Creative does not mean artistic.

I was so inspired by the text, that I created a poster for the classroom based on Carson's ideas for establishing a creative environment (I'll see if I can make the poster available for download later in the summer--it's on my to-do list!).

This book is a wonderful tool to help you access creativity in your own life--no matter if you are artsy or not, and is great food for thought as you are planning for the next school year. Do you want to recognize, encourage and appreciate the unique and diverse talents of those around you and build an environment of creativity in your home, classroom, or place or work? Then check out this book!

Art and the ABC's of Ecology

I was asked to spend some time with 4-year-olds and talk about ECOLOGY. I said "YES!" and then ran to my computer to look up what "Ecology" was!

Ecology is: 1. the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another, and 2. The study of the interaction of people with their environment.

You'd "B" Crazy Not To Try This Recycling Craft! (GROAN!)

I started off having the children play with blocks. We talked about how we needed to share the blocks. If one person took all of the blocks, there wouldn't be enough for everyone. This is a good way to illustrate the concept of REDUCE. If you use less, everyone can have some. Then I talked a bit about how people and nature can be connected. If we go on a picnic and throw our trash on the ground it will dirty up the environment and outside is where animals live--it is their home! Imagine our homes filled with trash! YUCK!

So we went outside with a shopping bag and looked for trash. They were good at that game and found quite a bit! We also talked about biodegradable vs. non-biodegradable. Leaves will break down over time, but a plastic coffee cup will not.

We went back inside and I introduced the next concept: RECYCLE. If we threw everything away or landfills will fill up quickly, and some of the stuff we throw away is still good or can be turned into something else. For example, water bottles can be turned into Polar Fleece fabric. I had a bunch of different recyclables on hand, in a pile, to show them. I had a ton of categories for them to sort the recyclables into (our town has a wonderful recycling center!). I had seven bins with labels such as:

1. Paper
2. Plastic
3. Cardboard (Corrugated)
4. Steel Cans
5. Aluminum Cans (Soda cans)
6. Newspaper/Magazines
7. Glass (be careful with that!)

Here are my basic labels for the Recycling Bins

Then they sorted the recyclables into the appropriate bins. This went quite fast! I explained that other things can also be recycled: clothing, books and toys, by giving them away to someone who may need them.

On to the art project!

Recycled Letters

Supplies Needed:

• Poster board (we used black)
• Scraps of construction paper, magazines, newspapers, labels from cans, etc.
• Glue stick
• Scissors (young children can rip the paper if they aren't ready for scissors).

Directions:

1. Cut the first letter of the child's name from poster board. It should be about 10 inches tall and wide enough so that s/he has space to glue paper to the surface.

2. Have the child use the glue stick to attach bits of paper to the surface of the letter.

This project REUSES paper that normally would have been thrown away.

We then went back to the pond onsite and looked for trash and critters. We found water bugs and a frog and we also saw trash that we couldn't reach, floating in the pond, such as a tennis ball. This allowed me to reiterate the information I had talked about earlier about how humans and nature are connected and how our actions affect other living things.

Home Connections

To strengthen the learning this lesson at home, parents can do the following:

• Discuss with children how they can be kind and not so kind to the environment.
• Set up a recycling station at home and visit the Recycling Center in their town.
• Look through outgrown toys, books and clothing and donate the items to those in need.
• Go on a hike and/or picnic and be good stewards by staying on the paths and carrying out their trash and disposing of it properly.