3 Creativity Exercises Backed by Science
Inspired by idea wranglers and creativity evangelists Amy Burvall, Natalie Nixon and Dan Ryder
“We all have the muscle of creativity in our minds, but for it to consistently give great results it needs daily exercise.”― Yusuf A. Leinge
While most of us have a spirit of invention, major or minor, for too many of us it lies dormant. This month, School of Thought is focused on Creativity: how it can be rejuvenated, awakened or just inspired with the simplest of acts.
The Big Idea
Amy Burvall and Dan Ryder, in their book Intention, popularized the terms critical creativity and rigorous whimsy. Their idea is that being critical and rigorous should not be pedagogically segregated from being creative or whimsical.
We can get creative and whimsical when engaged in the most serious academic subjects. In fact, Dan and Amy offer that deep understanding is frequently made apparent through creative acts.
Making Big Ideas Usable
The beautiful and useful book Intention is meant for all ages, disciplines, settings and demographics. And the authors don’t just encourage creative remixes and mash ups of their ideas, they celebrate them.
So, Amy and Dan, challenge accepted.
Our School of Thought co-creator team has received creative sparks from Intention, and collected some of our own. We’ve compiled exercises that are Amy and Dan-inspired, and, we hope, Amy and Dan-approved. We share them here in hopes that you might be inspired to make them yours.
Creativity consultant and author, Natalie Nixon, offers that creativity has three components: Inquiry, Improvisation and Intuition.
Inquiry is about building curiosity and asking a better question.
Improvisation is about rebounding off of minimal structures.
Intuition is pattern recognition: paying attention to a nudge and listening to it.
Using this lens, we offer three evidence-based exercises for creativity building.
Usable Ideas
1. Inquiry: Reimagine Questions
There’s a quote from a designer that I read recently,
“Don’t ask me to build a bridge; show me the canyon.”
I love it because it highlights the importance of creating space for creativity.
Maybe a bridge isn’t the solution.
If you want to get from side A to side B and you ask me to build a bridge, you’ve already given me an answer. When in fact, the best idea may not be to build a bridge, it might be to take a boat or a zip line from A to B.
Some stems to inspire:
What would happen if…
If ___ were possible, how would you do it?
How would this be interpreted if…?
How could I test this?
What patterns am I seeing?
Describe___ from the perspective of…
Try these questions while ideating, and share others that have helped you get through a creative block.
Research has found that asking smarter questions versus coming to quicker solutions leads to more creative outcomes.
2. Improvisation: Jump into some Vuja De
Suppose you’re in a situation that is very familiar—doing something that you’ve done a hundred times before—and you suddenly feel as if you’re experiencing something completely new. This is vuja de (aka vous ja de). Try it. (For more, check out our Seize the Vuja De post here.)
Create a still life of common objects (scissors, a brush, a box, a book)
Ask: How might we find ways to look at every day objects and see them differently?
Ask participants to reimagine these and draw something new.
Research has found that this exercise can be an antidote to writers’ block.
3. Intuition: Create an Intuition Log
Although honing intuition is not something we teach in school, the majority of successful people can speak to pivotal moments when they followed their heart, paid attention to subtle patterns, and great things happened.
How to build Intuition?
Create an Intuition Journal.
Write down three times you followed your intuition and times you did not.
What happened?
What patterns do you see?
The science behind this exercise is fascinating. More details here:
If you engage in these or reimagine, share your ideas on social and tag #schoolofthought #Creativity.
Interested in more?
Check out our recent consideranew/School of Thought podcast on Critical Creativity with author Dan Ryder and Elyse Burden. On this podcast, we talk critical creativity- what it is and how to cultivate it in the classroom.
Join us for Gatherings
Upcoming PAIS Community / School of Thought Gatherings
All gatherings are from 4pm-5:15pm
January 27th, Critical Creativity and Rigorous Whimsy with Dan Ryder.
Dan Ryder is a 20 year veteran educator, an idea wrangler, a design thinking evangelist, and co-author of Intention: Critical Creativity in the Classroom (2017, EdTechTeam Press). After two decades at Mt. Blue School, he now serves as a Learning Facilitator at Overman Academy CRCS, a regional charter school. An Apple Distinguished Educator and national recipient of the Horace Mann NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence, he can be followed @wickeddecent across the social media edu-sphere. He lives with his brilliantly beautiful librarian wife and their two hilarious kids in western Maine.
Connect with Dan Ryder: Twitter: @wickeddecent or @intentionbook / #dtk12chat | Website: danryder207.com | Book: Intention: Critical Creativity in the Classroom
February 22nd, Student Agency through Social Media with Evo Hannan.
March 10th, The Science of Resilience by Dr. Juna Bobby.
Details, facilitator bios and registration here.