Creativity isn't about glitter and paint

Teaching our kids (and ourselves) to rethink how things have always been done

I read a book recently that had an entire chapter devoted to teaching kids about creativity. One sentence from the chapter said something along the lines of “creativity is not about glitter and paint,” and when I read that, I thought, Bingo! That’s it.

So often I think we equate creativity with arts and crafts. It began with school projects, when grading rubrics would include points breakdowns with a certain proportion allocated for grammar and content and then a few remaining points for “creativity.” Creativity usually had to do with how colorful and intricate the posterboard looked. Then we ventured into adulthood and assumed creativity applied only to those of us who made our living playing music or acting or writing. Maaaybe we would take up a creative hobby on the side—painting still life canvases or sewing Halloween costumes or helping our kids build their science projects—but that was the extent to which we would flex our creative muscles.

I doubt many middle-aged adults would c…