” Many talented, bright and creative children think they are not intelligent, because what they do best is not valued in school, or is even stigmatized.” LEGO® EDUCATION: THE IMPORTANCE OF IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY

Ken, kindergarten educator

“It’s super easy to tell a story of princesses and castles: I close my eyes and imagine them!”

Beth, 6 years old

If you read any job advertisement today, in the list of required skills it is not surprising at all to find words like: flexible, problem-solver , team builder , creative, versatile …

Beth and her classmates could effortlessly prove that they possess these skills. Beth’s teacher uses play as the basis of her teaching method because it is now established that the educational experiences conducted through play are fundamental for developing 21st century skills , which are then basic in the workplace. In their class, the children’s energy and passion for learning is palpable and, according to Beth’s teacher, this is due to the power of imagination and creativity.

Creativity can be defined in different ways and even experts do not yet know how to “measure” it or which curricula to prepare to develop this talent in the most efficient way possible.

Behaviors such as critical and divergent thinking, fluency in speech, the ability to grasp (and welcome) differences and originality are considered indicative of creativity and, over time, certainly have an impact on the educational level.

Many researchers suggest some approaches to (re) awaken creativity in children:

• experimentation , or the exploration of certain spaces and materials to “see what happens”, without preconceived notions of how things should work (thus avoiding the fear of failure)
• development of one’s voice , that is to arrive at expressing creativity, arguing one’s opinions and interpretations in a critical and constructive way
• creation of a vision, or the construction of new knowledge on the basis of pre-acquired notions
• practical thinking , exploited by trying to solve a problem and learning how to work, within given rules, to obtain different results

And all these methods are practiced by children, spontaneously, in play. Imagination, mental resilience and experimentation develop the creativity and strategies necessary to successfully deal with new and sudden problems; problems that, however, children will be eager to solve, if motivated through play. It is also essential that parents, educators and teachers emphasize that there is never a single right answer, as this would prevent children from thinking flexibly or creatively.

The creativity and imagination with which children respond to a delivery or solve a problem also denote their intellectual “courage”. And the brave students are the ones who will benefit most from their studies.