Getting Started with Creativity Challenges Finish the Picture Activities Beautiful Oops Book Lesson

Connect Creativity to read aloud books:

• Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg
• The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
• Sticks by Diane Alber
• Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran

The goal of creativity challenges is to help students think in different ways. The ability to generate unique thoughts and ideas is known as divergent thinking.

This creativity unit includes 4 lesson plans for each of the following elements of creativity: fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration.

Day 1: Fluency

Suggested Materials:

• 9 circles worksheet (included)
• pencils
• color sticks, crayons, or markers
• timer
• Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg (optional)

Day 2: Flexibility

Suggested Materials:

• A real popsicle stick (or included printed picture of one)
• flexibility recording page (included)
• pencils
• color sticks, crayons, or markers
• timer
• Sticks by Diane Alber (optional)

Day 3: Originality

Suggested Materials:

• originality recording page
• pencils
• color sticks, crayons, or markers
• timer
• stickers for originality points (optional)
• The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt (optional)

Day 4: Elaboration

Suggested Materials:

• elaboration recording page
• pencils
• color sticks, crayons, or markers
• timer
• Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran (optional)

When students are thinking outside the box, it results in creative solutions. In a creativity challenge, students are presented with a problem that they have to solve using their creativity. Typically, these challenges are short lasting anywhere from 3-10 minutes.

By implementing these challenges on a regular basis students are able to exercise their creative muscles.

Creativity challenges can be used as a quick warm-up before a STEM challenge to help jumpstart students’ creativity. They can also be used for morning work, brain breaks, and at various other times throughout the school day.