How Can Open-Ended Questions Get Children to Think Creatively and Outside the Box?
- 1. How Can Open- Ended Questions Get Children to Think Creatively and Outside the Box? Khanthaly Linthakhanh SOE 115 Psychology of Teaching and Learning Kendall College
- 2. OVERVIEW OF THE STATEMENT Creative thinking has boundless opportunities to be uncovered in a child’s mind. Teachers have limitless opportunities for their students to explore their own way of thinking. Children should be able to pursue the knowledge they are absorbing in the most engaging of opportunities. Giving children freedom to explore and participate without judgement will help the child feel that their ideas and answers are worth listening to. I chose this strategy because I enjoy the answers that are brought into focus. I want the children to be able to think outside the box with the ideas they are coming up with. It opens up endless possibilities for children to think of what they see as the answer to the question. I am hoping to learn more to better their achievement in using their brain to process the ideas they come up with. I would also like to learn on different strategies I could use with my own students to open their creative thinking skills.
- 3. CREDIBLE SOURCE #1 In the article called, “Creative Development in 3-5 Year Olds.” The author dives into on how she perceives we can help students unlock their imagination. She states we should encourage problem solving using creativity. Allow the students to develop freeform thinking. To promote a child’s thinking we should use objects that promote thinking outside of the box. Problem solving should be encouraged for the creativity of thinking. Experiences should be in bountiful to encourage the development of knowledge. Offer opportunities for the child to create with different supplies. Allow for rule breaking to have them able to think of different ways of doing something. Have props available will encourage exploration. We should present time appropriate and messy activities for exploration.
- 4. CREDIBLE SOURCE #2 In the article called, “How to Promote Creative Thinking.” The author goes into using Divergent Thinking. In this process old ideas in this process get broken up. It allows inventing connections in new ways. When teaching creatively has opportunities to develop self-worth. It is limitless in positive reinforcement. It has the children develop their own uniqueness. During activities it will allow for freedom of expression. Activities with open-ended questions have no limit on what answer the child can come up with. Innovative thinking can present themselves during the exploration of art and imaginative games because of the openness of possibilities the child can conjure up. Children using music gives them cooperative inventive playing skills. The area for dramatic play has boundless opportunities for children to think of their own scenarios and thinking. The author states that we should have the room arranged for adventures they can use their creativity in.
- 5. CREDIBLE SOURCE #3 In the article, “7 Ways to Foster Creativity in Your Kids.” The author believes that creativity is a skill to practice and helps with the happiness and health of a child. Creativity helps problem solving skills and thinking flexibility. Allow for space for children’s exploration offering different supplies to foster their thinking of using certain objects. In activities give the children freedom to have trial and error. Activities should give them the opportunity for them to do what they want. Allow for flexibility for activities. Using props helps with creative thinking in arts activities. She states to limit incentives for creative thinking it will limit their ability to motivate themselves to accomplish the result. She also states achievement should be fun and encourage the process.
- 6. ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION I noticed that the authors have similar philosophies on having opportunities to explore. They stated that having props and different supplies promotes creative thinking. They recognize that children need plenty of space to explore and be messy. Teachers should reduce the urge to judge a students work. The children should be able to have the time they need to pursue their ideas and come up with their own conclusions. Children should have different opportunities to use their creative thinking skills. The author of the last article made a statement that stuck out to me. She stated that we should limit the incentives they give because it reduces the motivation they could use to accomplish the accomplish a their own result. The articles have broadened my knowledge on what can be used, strategies and how much the environment can have effect on their creativity in the space they are given.
- 7. CONNECTIONS In creative thinking the child’s brain is able to be free to choose what they are thinking. They are unlimited with the thinking process that they need to come to their own conclusions. The child’s cognition is being developed at their own pace in processing what they are thinking. The child is able to be free to choose their own thoughts to answer an open-ended question. Their cognitive skills are being used in this process during the steps the child uses to come up with their answers. The tools that the child can use during this process can develop a different way of thinking. During the processing having the teachers along to guide the child with opportunities to think for themselves gets the child to have a sense of accomplishment. The feeling of accomplishment will help to motivate them to want to achieve more. Creativity is needed to be able to process ideas and figure out the answers in an individual way.
- 8. CONCLUSIONS I think creativity is needed in the thinking process. It allows for us to think of the answers to questions in different ways. Coming up with different ideas expands our thinking to see how others may process to come up with their own answers. It opens up discussions to how an individual came up with a certain answer. I enjoy asking open-ended to see if I can spark an out of the box answer. I get excited when I hear multiple answers to one question. I would like to offer the props the articles suggested and see what the children come up with. I tend to use open-ended questions during story time. I am eager to be able to use it more in different areas of the classroom. I relish the chance to get the children to think differently. I can see the sense of accomplishment when they are able to answer the question their own way. I will continue to do what I do and incorporate the ideas I read about in the articles.
- 9. COMMUNICATION WITH FAMILIES What I would say to the parents is: I use open-ended questions to get the children to develop their cognitive skills. They are able to process their own answers to the question that has no wrong comment. I would inform that we use this process throughout the classroom to see if they can develop the knowledge in different situations. When using creative thinking the child will develop a sense of accomplishment knowing that their answer is not wrong it is just different. The difference is what has us thinking what the person could have been thinking to come up with the answer they did. It gives every child the understanding that some questions can have more than one answer to them. I would also encourage parents to use this process at home and see what the child is able to come up with when they are not limited to one right answer.
- 10. REFERENCES Anthony, M. PhD. (2017). Creative Development in 3-5 Year Olds. Received February 16, 2017 from http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/stages- milestones/creative-development-3-5-year-olds. Carter, C. PhD. (September 16, 2008). 7 Ways to Foster Creativity in Your Kids. Received February 17, 2017 from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/raising_happiness/post/7_way s_to_foster_creativity_in_your_kids. Sterling Honig, A. (n.a.). How to Promote Creative Thinking. Received February 16, 2017 from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching- content/how-promote-creative-thinking/.