What’s the difference between kids who feel passive and helpless, and the little Steve Jobses of the world – the resilient, “can do” kids who make their own way in life?
In part, it’s about an optimistic mindset, one that emphasizes the rewards of effort and practice. It’s about self-discipline too. But it’s also about creativity, isn’t it? Being creative helps us cope with our everyday troubles. And being creative may be the key to professional achievement as well. The most successful entrepreneurs, engineers, and scientists tackle problems with an open mind and lots of creativity.
But what is creativity? Psychologist Nira Liberman has one answer. “Creativity is basically about the flexibility of thought of your mental system,” she notes in a press release from Tel Aviv University.
And if creativity is flexibility, we can help our kids become more creative. In just 5 minutes. The trick? Expand the mind by thinking about objects and places far, far away.
It’s a simple trick, but in a new experiment by Liberman and her colleagues, it seemed to work. The researchers divided 55 kids, aged 6-9 years, into two groups. Both groups were asked to look at a series of photographs of objects, but there was a key difference:
One group “zoomed out,” seeing a series of photos that gradually progressed from very nearby objects (like a pencil on a desk) to objects very far away (like the Milky Way galaxy).
The other group went in the opposite direction, beginning with photos of spectacularly distant objects and ending with images of items close-at-hand.
After viewing the photos, the kids were given several tests of creativity, including one that asked kids to brainstorm all the possible uses of a given object.
Did it matter if kids went from “pencil to galaxy” or from “galaxy to pencil?” Indeed yes. After viewing the photos, the children who had gone from “pencil to galaxy” performed better on tests of creativity, including one test that asked kids to brainstorm all the possible uses of a given object. Not only did these kids think of more possibilities, their answers were also more original.
If other studies confirm these results, that’s a pretty cool little trick. And it reminds me of another experiment I’ve written about, a study showing that kids became more creative immediately after watching a video clip that featured magical elements – a scene from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
In both cases, kids were asked to consider something out of the ordinary or bigger than their immediate surroundings. In both cases, just a few minutes was enough to expand children’s minds.
What does this mean for parents and teachers? The message seems clear to me. If we want to raise more Steve Jobses – and, more generally, kids who are better able to cope with the unpredictable problems in life – we should expose them to the unusual, amazing, far-away, mind-bending, bigger-than-life sort of things that inspire people to take new perspectives. “There are more things in heaven and earth…?” You bet. And stepping outside the boundaries of everyday life may help kids develop a knack for thinking in new, original, productive ways.
If this talk interests you, read more about the possible effects of Harry Potter and fantasy video games. In addition, check out the effects of a “can-do mindset,” and these tips for raising a more self-disciplined child.
image by Andrew Z. Colvin / wikimedia commons