Activities to Develop Creative Thinking Skills in Students

Introduction

The ability to think creatively is an important skill students need to develop as they grow older. It is an ability that not only encourages one to think creatively but also enables one to generate fresh concepts and find original solutions to issues. It is imperative to develop creative thinking skills among students to build a community of change-makers. It helps students to outshine others in a competition through their creative solutions. This article discusses the importance of creative thinking in students and the activities that can be organized in schools to improve the creative thinking skills of students. ‘

Importance of Creative Thinking Skills

• It aids students in solving challenging issues or difficulties that may arise.
• It improves the productivity of students and encourages them to work with more enthusiasm.
• If students are working in a team, it builds collaboration between the team.
• It motivates students to think outside the box and hence gives them the freedom to experiment and come up with innovative ideas.
• Creative thinking skills help students to develop problem-solving skills, which is an essential skill required to thrive in their academic and professional lives.

Activities to Develop Creative Thinking Skills

Science Activities

Science activities are a great way to build creative thinking skills among students. When you encourage students to engage in science experiments, they will be able to come up with innovative ideas and solutions. Moreover, students will get an opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge from the classroom. In this way, their creative skills along with comprehension skills would improve.

Schools can conduct science fairs or science exhibitions to showcase their talents and creativity.  These exhibitions would inspire children to think creatively and experiment with the information they learn in the classroom. This helps them expand their knowledge and learn things outside of the textbook. The students who demonstrate their top talents can be awarded rewards. This would boost their self-confidence and hence they begin to believe in themselves.

School Crafts

Undoubtedly, crafts and arts refine the creative abilities of students. Arts and crafts are one the best ways to unleash the capabilities of students. It enhances the dexterity of students by making them use their limbs in different ways. Since students don't have many restrictions in unleashing their creativity, they will be able to express themselves in a better way. This gives them a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

In addition to this, the hand-eye coordination of the students will also improve as they take part in craft activities. It is essential because it enables kids to carry out a range of tasks using their vision and muscles. Besides, hand-eye coordination improves the productivity of students.

Reading Activities

Reading fosters creativity and creative thinking skills of students to a large extent. The visualizing power of students and thereby enhancing their imagination powers. When students engage in reading activities, they tend to pick up the nuances of the language, and hence it improves their language skills. It assists them in expressing their ideas in a better way.

You can set up a mini library in the classroom for your students to develop reading habits in students. This is a great idea to draw interest in reading. You can pick the books that you think are best for your students. These handpicked books ought to be suitable for the grades they belong to. As they read more books, they will eventually fall in love with books.

Classroom Decoration

Classroom decorations can be done with the help of your students. You can set a theme for the classroom or you can adorn the classroom with the creative works of your students. As you give them an opportunity to display their works in the classroom, they may feel proud of their creative works and may work towards perfecting them.

Classroom decoration is a great way to bring out the creative skills of your students. You can make use of opportunities like this to bring out the best in your students. The decorations can be done beautifully using charts, graphs etc. This would serve as a learning experience for them and also an opportunity to use their potential in an informative and creative way.

Creative Games

Games build collaboration between students. As students will be collaborating with their peers for winning these games, their communication skills would also improve. During the games, students would have to come up with innovative ideas and solutions in order to crack the games and win them.

You can conduct a variety of games in relation to their syllabus. Games like puzzles, treasure hunts, riddles, poem writing, story writing, etc. It teaches students to work as a team and hence, they learn to be team players.

Brainstorming Sessions

Brainstorming is a great way to develop your creative thinking skills. Brainstorming helps people brainstorm by creating groups where everyone writes down their thoughts at the same time and then shares them with other group members for feedback. This process has been shown to be effective in improving productivity and creativity among students. This provides students with a chance to express their opinions.

Conclusion

Creative thinking skills are essential for students to excel in their academics and also in their careers. You can organize these activities in your classroom for improving the creative thinking skills of your students. As was already established, students need creative thinking skills to excel in a myriad of endeavors throughout their lives.

Suggested Read - Creative Thinking Exercises for Teachers

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