Letter from Mark: What Do You Get When You Cross An Elephant and A Fish?
I’ll answer in a minute. Putting things together that don’t usually go together is an excellent way to stimulate creativity in children (and adults). It’s called Synectics. The word Synectics comes from the Greek and refers to joining together different and apparently irrelevant elements. Synectics are used in business and the classroom as a style […]
Creativity and Time, Part I
I was listening to cartoonist Lynda Barry talk about a class she teaches at the University of Wisconsin. She described a creativity exercise she learned from Ivan Brunetti’s book Cartoon Philosophy and Practice. Brunetti (and now Barry) has students draw a car for three minutes, then they draw another car for two minutes, then one minute, […]
Creativity and Time, Part II: Keep Your Kids Creative This Summer
We’ve all heard that children can lose some 6-8 weeks’ worth of learning over the summer, but this doesn’t have to be the case with our kids. Here’s some techniques to consider for long car trips to keep the creative juices flowing. Mind Before Mindless: Hold off on video games and DVD players until AFTER […]
Keeping Kids Active Indoors During This Longgggg Winter
While Spring is right around the corner (I can hope, can’t I), many of our elementary school children are bouncing off the walls and need more indoor physical activities IMMEDIATELY! So in the interest of giving you some sanity and your children some indoor fitness activities at school or at home, I want to […]