This is a documentary which serves as the doctoral research of Rebecca Zak. In this documentary she is arguing for the need to change our educational system to encompass more creativity. She looks a several models of education and how they promote or discourage creativity.

So, if creativity can do so much good, then how do you ensure your child has creative opportunities. Many schools these days are drastically cutting their art programs including visual arts, dramatic arts, music, and dance. They simply don't have enough time to live up to the testing standards put forth by the powers that be to include these types of programs in their curriculum. The schools that still offer such programs are often highly focused on the end products because they show measurable results and fit nicely into that "testing" culture of today's schools. There is nothing wrong with this type of art, however it does not foster creativity. All of the creative decisions are made for the child. It is this type of education that begins to dull the child's natural creativity. 

There are numerous extracurricular activities within most communities which can expose your child to various art forms, but often in many of these programs the child is producing a product designed by the instructor. There is absolutely value in this type of instruction. It teaches skills necessary for creativity later on, it does not generally teach creativity however.

If children are exposed mainly to an educational system that does not value creativity of thought, and they are moved from one scheduled activity to the next when do they have time to be creative? The message they are taking home is that these types of activities are more important than creativity. Over time these children learn many new skills, but creativity is not one of them and eventually for many children their natural creative drive begins to fade.

So with all of these product driven activities out there, how do you ensure that your child is exposed to creativity? 

I believe that unstructured play is one of the best ways to spark creativity. Children make the choices, they discover the problems and the solutions. They use divergent thinking to look at things outside of the box. They are intrinsically motivated and led by their natural curiosity to discoveries big and small. Their creativity is nourished.

It is for this reason that I am a huge fan of choice based art. Choices in the art room is one way that a child's creativity begins to flourish. They follow their own interests and create art that is meaningful to them. In our studio we offer weekly Open Studio Sessions where artists of all ages can come in and explore our art supplies. They can "play" with art. Choices in the art studio coupled with skills they have picked up along the way, either through direction or through self discovery lead the artist to create art that has meaning to them personally. Creating this type of art allows for introspection and self expression. The artist becomes a problem solver, first finding the problem they wish to solve and then discovering ways to solve it. One day, I overheard a little girl say to her mom,