Faded Creativity

I had the chance to participate in a great event called Minds in Motion sponsored by the Connecticut Association for the Gifted. This is an event that offers workshops for children from kindergarten to 8th grade as well as presentations for the parents. I was providing clay sculpting workshops to 2 groups of children: the first group was 5th and 6th graders, and the second 7th and 8th graders. I had about 15 kids in the first workshop and 6 in the second. These kids went through 100lbs of clay in 3 hours creating all kinds of things that came to their minds from dinosaurs, to airplanes, vases, bass-relief sculptures, princesses, cobras, and many other things.

This event was a lot of fun. There were very talkative children and very quiet ones. I was worried the kids in the first group would use all the clay leaving nothing to the second group. Their creations were very imaginative and they produced one thing after another. Some challenged themselves creating large pieces. The girls created less and smaller pieces than the boys but focused on providing details to the pieces. The first workshop was very dynamic and entertaining. We talked about cartoons, movies, made jokes about out names, music,  and some of them were even singing at times. The second group presented a different dynamic.

The kids in the second group were very funny and nice but the conversations were more focused on books. They were very quiet in contrast with the first group. The conversations were less and shorter. Their creations showed faded creativity. Their pieces were fewer, smaller, and took them longer to decide what to create. They created pieces of more practical things like pencil holders. They also created books and an airplane, and a few bases, and something else with angel wings and a mermaid tail.

What does this mean? What conclusions could be reached from these observations? I am not certain it is enough information to reach definite conclusions but it is a good start for exploration of creative tendencies within the age differences, gender, developmental states, interests, and socialization. It could be interesting to see how they create in isolation in comparison with the group dynamics too. I guess my researcher mind was very present during the workshops as much as the artist and the teacher. In all, it was a great afternoon with wonderful children. I am thankful for the opportunity.