Cam Thompson-Play-Doh and Creativity

Bronson and Merrman's article stated that children have the highest capacity for creativity, which unfortunately declines with age because eyars of conventional education and countless rules sqeeze out time to nurture or improve our creative sides. This was evident during our class play-doh demonstration because the majority of us, when toled to make anything that can hold another object, could only come up with the typtical basket, bucket or bowl. It was not until given a second chance to try making something unique that no one else in the room would think of, that we began using both our left and right hemispheres to push ourselves beyond the first things that popped into our minds. It was difficult at first, however, to go beyond and break free of the play-doh color's limits. Even though we were able to come up with more original creations the second time around, I was disturbed after leaving class- it took way too long and too much effort to do something that used to be extremely easy when we were 5 years old. I found myself carrying around and playing my play-doh the next day. I made jewelry, a princess crown, a bowl os spaghetti, a cell phone case, tennis racquets and reading glasses. Bronson adn Merryman were correct0 creativity does improve with practice. Clearly, we need to push ourselves to nurture this creativity in everyday tasks and not just in art class.