Creativity for kids: November 21 and every day with Everyartist.me #creativitymatters

This post is inspired by Everyartist Live!, a national, collaborative art event with the goal of engaging a million elementary school children on November 21, 2013 - the largest art event in history. Want to get involved? Join the effort to show that creativity matters. Sign up at http://everyartist.me

November 21 will mark the largest art project in
history (we hope.) Here's how you and your students
can join in. 

Creativity for kids: will it keep kids healthy?

Recently, I came across a book that listed the “12 apostles of ill health.”¹ I was stunned to see that one was “a lack of creativity.” How can lack of creativity lead to ill health? Is this true?

Think for a moment… it seems like the faster the arts and music have been removed from schools, the higher the drop out rate has escalated. Students are disenchanted and disengaged as they've had paint brushes replaced by pencils as they figure math problems instead of drawing figures on a page.

Join the largest art project in history on November 21.

Certainly our students need to learn math, science, and all of these other things. However, I would argue if each of us has things that we are made to do and those things are pulled from us, then we will pull away from the thing that pulls us away from what we love. Kids are creative and they need it in the classroom.

Genius Fridays and Raven

I have a beautiful student, lets call her Raven. Raven is gifted beyond measure and creates drawings that can make your eyes mist. That kind of talent. Most Fridays we have genius day and Raven has chosen to draw. She’s learned about apps that let her draw and has photographed her work and opened up a personal gallery on a website for artists.

She glows on Fridays and says to me,

“It is like I can bring all of me to school… I don’t have to leave a piece of me at home.”

Do you want a piece of me?

We don’t want one piece of a child… the part that does math or the part that writes paragraphs. We want the whole child. The child that decides what to eat and how to exercise and especially the part that creates.

When I think of the impact of personal interest projects on math and science, I think of the EAST initiative in Arkansas. This program uses technology to help students pursue personal interest projects. In research, they've discovered a positive impact on student motivation and self directed learning styles. Why?

Maybe it is because kids are able to bring themselves to school, not just a piece. They are solving problems creatively.

We are made to create. It is part of the human DNA. We are also made to collaborate. (I write a lot about flattening the classroom, this is yet another way to do that.)

Let's help kids join a massive world wide elementary art event

I’m writing this post because Everyartist Live! contacted me about their world wide elementary art event on November 21, 2013. Admittedly, I have many companies who contact me to write posts for them - some sponsored, some not. The only posts I accept as sponsored posts are those I’d write about anyway for topics that I think are important to those of you who gift me with your eyes and attention several times a week.

Join Everyartist Live! in their mission to spark creativity Here’s how:

Everyartist.me is sponsoring a program to let elementary students around the world participate and join in the collaborative event. While the focus is on the US, anyone can join in and many have already registered.

1. Read about everyartist.me

2. Sign up at https://signup.everyartist.me/

Mark your calendar and check your email for more information on this project. And remember, whatever you do, inspire creativity in your classroom. 

I believe every child should be creating something original each week.

We need creativity to bloom. We must make time for this generation to create. This is one way and I hope you’ll join in!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Footnotes

1 - E Stanley Jones as quoted in “Ordering Your Private World” by George McDonald
All photos licensed from iStockphoto except for the Everyartist Live! Logo