Before we launch our new creativity challenges 5-10 I wanted to provide a quick little challenge. This idea came to me this weekend while I have been cleaning our house disposing of so much “unnecessary” and focusing on things that matter.
When I was hanging out with my daughters I was watching them be……..kids.
My daughters are obsessed with slime. We have gone through at least 3 gallons of glue and various other ingredients this summer alone. Despite creating major messes and leaving slime debris everywhere I witnessed something amazing.
They ran out of glue. Glue is the fundamental ingredient to slime. What were they going to do?
What they did not do was not give up. They started mixing new ingredients. They started watching videos on YouTube. They started to assemble ingredients and make new concoctions. They started to work with what they had around them.
They were stuck within a box and worked to come up with ingenious new ideas from the parameters given to them.
I could not help but think that this is indeed the challenge of life. The challenge of educators. As I work with teachers in my Deeper Learning class as well as the teachers I work with online over the summer who need help I realize this is the challenge we all face.
We all face our own box that we are placed in. We have our own unique constraints and parameters that we are dealing with when it comes to our classroom. However, watching my daughters play I realized that as adults we are our own worst enemy. I challenge you to think like a child. Look at your situation. How can you make do with what you want to accomplish? How can you change your perspective to view that what you have is enough? How can you take ideas and objects that you already have and make something new that is beautiful?
Here is my little attempt to live by my words. I took the four mystery items(links below) we have been exploring this past week and challenged myself to remix the items to create something new. I wanted to put my child thinking cap on and just play. I tried to remove my fear of failure. I tried to remove my thoughts of doubt. I tried to avoid what we all fall prey to – the anticipation of failure. I just explored and played.
Here is what I came up with.
Step 1: I took my jar of Play-Doh(the best $25 bucks I spent all summer!) and pressed a LEGO minifig into the ball of Play-Doh.
Step 2: I took a box of crayons from a big package of crayons(don’t you just love the smell of crayons), peeled the paper off of one crayon. I then broke it up and placed it in the Play-Doh container and placed it in the microwave for about 3-4 minutes until the crayon melted. From there I poured the melted crayon in the Play-Doh mold.
Step 3: I let it sit and cool. I lacked patience and spilled the melted crayon and had problems pulling it out of the Play-Doh. Give it time. Don’t rush this step!
Step 4: Enjoy your new customized crayon! I can now color with my new minifig crayon.
We learned a great deal. We struggled learning how to melt a crayon properly. We had some bad molds until we learned how to slow down and be patience with our work. In the end we had a new fun project. We just played. We just explored.
What can you create with your remix ideas? This is my challenge to you.
Can you go back and think and play like a child? I sure hope so.
Here are the four challenges from last week. Enjoy!
Mystery Box Item #4 Teacher Creativity Challenge
Mystery Box Item #3 Teacher Creativity Challenge
Mystery Box #2 Teacher Creativity Challenge
Mystery Box #1 Teacher Creativity Challenge
I hope you have fun and look forward to you joining us for the next set of items coming soon!
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