Dear Readers,
As you may have heard, after some urging, I have created a Facebook Page for The Wonder Collection. Please go to the page and "Become a fan" and show your support.
And, to celebrate, this week I am giving away an autographed copy of Child of Wonder. I hope you'll get in on the drawing!
In the mind or in the heart, on the front porch, in the margins of scratch paper, or even in shadows on the wall just after ‘lights out’. Where does creative thinking happen? All those places and more.
In Byrd Baylor’s book The Table Where Rich People Sit, a family thinks together at the kitchen table. Mountain Girl, as she is called, has requested a meeting, and the subject is money. She asserts they don’t “have enough of it.” Together, they record all their earnings. The list grows, taking its own shape. The family realizes they don’t just get paid in money, but with sunsets, howling of coyotes, and changing color of the shadows on the mountainside. They decide if the leaders of the world could share a plate of cookies around an old beat up table like they do, there’d be more harmony in the world.
Harmony, that special place families strive towards. They seek to work together to achieve common goals, from who takes out trash, to working a puzzle, to bigger questions like how to fit five growing people into three small bedrooms.
Finding that place where ideas culminate begins the journey towards more fulfilled, imaginative lives. As much as we think they just appear, ideas, creativity, and critical thinking don’t happen on their own. A secure foundation of organized freedom must be set for ideas to emerge.
A Family Think Tank
A think tank by definition is an organized group performing interdisciplinary research. Since their inception, thinks tanks have left lasting impressions on public policy. Like The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, varied examples exist of members bringing individual talents to discuss, debate, explore ideas and make change.
Setting the stage for family creativity can look like a think tank, an organization of imagination, problem solving and thinking. With a family think tank, we encourage an environment where ‘lightbulb moments’, when it just seems to click, spark more often.
Think Tank Puzzle Pieces
Original think tanks were unique establishments. Recognizing the value each unique mind brought to the process, the primary goal remained on improving the decision making process.
Thinking of our families as think tanks, we recognize each member as a valuable piece of the think tank puzzle. Together, investigate family dynamics and strengths each person, regardless of age, brings to your creative table. Perhaps you have a discovery specialist, or an expert in asking “why?” How about a movement expert to lead your active break times, or a kitchen connoisseur to tickle taste buds?
As your family grows, experiments and shares together, roles will likely change over time. Encourage exploration within the roles. From this place, confidence to venture outside comfort zones will emerge.
Finding Solutions Together
Members of think tanks are often the technological, social, and scientific problem solvers of the world and need to be able to “think outside the box”. They discover solutions because, as the adage goes, “two heads are better than one.”
So everyone can be heard in a respectful and equal way, perhaps use a “talking feather” or a beanbag to designate the speaker. Arrange predictable times to ‘check in’, discuss ideas, and discover solutions together.
Simply Puzzled
Noam Chomsky says, “Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things.” Common among people described as “creative” is that they all enjoy discovery and being simply puzzled.
Children delight in simple things. Encourage natural sense of wonder by appreciating that enchantment. In family think tanks, being puzzled and enjoying discovery together leads to ideas and solutions. If you can, schedule times to explore and be puzzled together. Make conscious efforts to model wonder about things like the inner workings of the telephone or incorporate a small daily brainteaser. Laugh heartily and appreciate your discovery together.
Ideas Change the World
Ideas change the world. Not just ideas of the major think tanks of the world, but ordinary families thinking extraordinary things, together in extraordinary ways. Viewing our family members as unique thinkers, each with something valuable to offer, we learn from each other and move towards creating solutions that make our families happier and more productive. We’ll count our discoveries and think and play together at the table where happy, creatively rich families sit.
Make a Shadow Puppet Theatre
1. Drape a sheet over a table or use wax paper to cover a hole in a large box.
2. Trace and cut out desired figures using cardboard or heavy stock.
3. Tape a drinking straw or tongue depressor to the back of your puppets. Use a hole punch and brads if you want your puppets to have moveable parts. Add an extra straw to each moveable part.
4. Use a desk lamp or flashlight to shine light from the back of the sheet or wax paper.
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see....
from My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson
I uncovered this piece in the dusty files as I was cleaning off my hard drive, and realized I'd never posted it here. So, in one sense, this is a walk down memory lane for me, but in another it could have very easily been written yesterday. I've also posted this to my Thinking Outside the Recipe blog, for obvious reasons, but I wanted to make sure it went here too because I often get questions about mess making with children. Hopefully this will answer some of those questions. Enjoy! and Happy Wondering, and Mess Making!
Flour Experiments
“I’m gonna n eed my chef’s hat for this, Mama!” my son excitedly claims as he sees me pile our ingredients on the counter. Our mission: to make twenty individual sized pizza crusts and an equal amount of balls of playdough, enough for all our party guests
We indeed did start out preparing for the pizza party we were going to have the next evening. Yet, standing on his stool, now waist high to the counter, my son became entranced by the yeast popping and dancing. I could see the wheels turning and he got ‘that look’ in his eyes when he asked, “Can you please get down a big bowl for me? I have some work to do.” So down came another large mixing bowl and the mission took a turn.
He stood on that stool for another four straight hours. From that very spot he mixed, and poured, and measured, and stirred, and truly explored. He went through an entire extra bag of flour and a fair amount of water as I allowed myself to take a deep breath, step back and just … watch! Smiling at that took an extra bit of courage from me, who normally takes very seriously the need not to waste our resources and has succumbed to the pressures of needing to keep a clean house.
With the way our lives go, it isn’t always that we have an extra four hours for this kind of exploration to happen.
Inquiry comes natural to babies; at that time in their lives, they are true scientists. Not so typical of older children. As children get older they begin to stop mimicking what scientists do. Their testing out of ideas begins to fade as they discover that many adults believe there is a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’, and As Dr. Mark Hertle, senior Program Officer for the Science Education Program at Howard Hughes Medical Institute says, “Inquiry can keep curiosity alive!”
Watered down flour spilled on the floor, dripped down the sides of the bowl and sputtered along the counter. Still, I held back the need to guide the mess or sponge it up and instead we broke out our air trombones and sang loud vibratos of “Sammy the Dog has learned to play trombone!” This was very serious work, you know.
As I scrubbed the counter, the nooks and crannies, the grout lines, the cupboard doors and the smirking drawer faces, my thoughts wandered. I thought of the day my neighbor stopped in unexpectedly and I apologized for the less than spotless house. She let me off the hook with, “Honey, if you have a clean house, you’re not spending enough time with your kids.” I reveled in the memory of her kind voice, but couldn’t really get the voice of my father out of my head.
Surely months from now I will come across bits of dried flour-water-love mixture, perhaps even with an extra bit of mold growing on them.
I’ve finally finished the counters and take a look at the floors. Grabbing the mop and then setting it aside, I decide to save that for tomorrow, because that is another party in and of itself and I know he will want to be invited! Besides our floor needs a good mopping. It is, after all that time of year.
P.S. 
When we talk about rearing children who live a creative life, one filled with thinking skills, problem solving, and self-expression that almost always includes lives filled with models of creativity. Those models come in all shapes, sizes and forms, not the least of which is the model of a great book.
When choosing and reading good books, help your child “think outside the box” by considering and engaging in the following:
Wonder aloud about the book. As you read through a book with your child, share outloud your own thinking and what you might be wondering about the story. Tell about what the book reminds you of: past experiences, people you have known, situations you have found yourself in, or other books or stories that have similar plots or characteristics. When you wonder about a book, you are then modeling how to thoughtfully and critically engage a story.
Question the story line. And when you are reading a book and you find yourself not necessarily agreeing with what a character chooses, how the author words something, or perhaps you just find the story not aligning with your belief system, use it as an opportunity to engage your child in thinking critically about the world. Ask questions like why do you think the author said that? Or make statements like do you think that character is being a good friend? Soon you’ll notice your child asking similar questions and making statements in a similar manner.
Don't feel like you have to stick to the words all the time. Many wonderful picture books are written much more wordy than many preschools can physically sit for. As you are reading, feel free to take creative license with the author’s words. Give some of the more silent characters their own voice or just shorten a long paragraph to make it more accessible to your child’s listening abilities.
Try a wordless picture book. Even if your child can already read (and perhaps especially if they can), wordless picture books are a true wonder in their ability to get children thinking and imagining a storyline and words of their own. A few of my favorite wordless picture books are: Tuesday by David Wiesner, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs, and The Sidewalk Circus by Paul Fleischman.
Choose books with interesting and unique plots, characters, and ways of looking at the world. It may seem obvious that to live a creative life we must surround ourselves with models of creativity. Unfortunately, the children’s book market is saturated with books that are less than creative so it can be difficult to wade through. From a few classics to some brand new titles, some of my favorite books that encourage creative living are:
And To Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss
For every Seuss-lover out there, this, his first book, is not to be missed or overlooked for some of his more mainstream and popular titles. This is the story of Marco as he walks home from school True to Seuss-ism, Mulberry Street is filled with rhyme, rhythm, and refrain that will have your kids imagining themselves right down your own streets. A wonderful book for modeling creative thinking in an ordinary, everyday situation.
The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater
As the story goes a seagull drops a can of orange paint (none knows why) right onto Mr. Plumbean’s house. The neighbors are aghast when Plumbean doesn’t fix it right away, disturbing their “neat street”. But one by one, they each go to speak with him, and uncover their own creative selves along the way. This old favorite is a fun and glorious story about self-expression, individuality, and believing in your dreams. I highly recommend this book for all ages!
The Dot and Ish by Peter Reynolds
Dare I say that anything by Peter Reynolds is a safe bet when it comes to choosing a book that honors and models a creative life? Well, his two books The Dot and Ish are certainly good starting points. Both offer a thoughtful glimpse into a moment in young artists’ life and process, while encouraging a view of the world that is all your own.
Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran
In an age where children are over-planned and over-stimulated we find that they often miss out on opportunities to play with natural materials in a truly creative and open-ended way. Roxaboxen is an excellent model of children who make their play themselves in a seemingly “boring” setting: an empty lot. Using only rocks, boxes, and imagination, the children engage in an elaborate simulation in the town and environment that comes from the pure delight of having time, space, and a few simple things to work with. This is a great read for a child who might be ready to sit for a longer story. It is also a wonderful way to introduce stories from Mommy and Daddy’s childhood play.
These are only a few of the wonderful choices out there that encourage a more creative, thoughtful mindset. When we turn to books to help model and enhance the creative life, we find that with the many wonderful titles available to our little ones and a few good reading strategies, they will do just that, think outside the box!
