Poop Scooped: Nurturing Creativity in Children

About two weeks ago I posted a mystery photo and asked for your thoughts as to who created it, why they did it, and what it means for us as designers. And I received one very thoughtful response (thanks Jonathan). Here's the scoop on the mystery poop.

Last fall I was reviewing some of Stefan Sagmeister's work, and my six year old son, Noah, was in the room looking over my shoulder. Normally, I can't work with folks staring over my shoulder, especially my kids, who tend to ask a million questions about what they are seeing. Since I was taking a break (I work out of our home), I enjoyed having Noah there and hoped he'd learn something. Turns out we both did.

After lunch that day, Noah took the peanut butter and jelly sandwich crusts, which he and every other child despises, and crafted the word "poop". Parents know that any words alluding to body functions are fascinating and funny for kids. I thought his work quite good both in content and execution. He was doing more than mimicking what he saw Sagmeister do. He was creating connections between ideas and physical objects that expressed something inside of him. Poop. Rejected bread crusts. Boredom at the table. Fun. This is the infancy of creativity in my son.

Anyway, as a proud father I decided to snap a photo of Noah's work to send to Mr. Sagmeister via email with the subject "See what you've done to my kids!" Sagmeister's response: "Thank you so much for sending the poop over. We got a big kick out of it in here. May I show it around?" Wow. My 7 year old son's work was passed around one of the most famous design studio's in the country. What more could a parent ask for?

Seriously, this whole episode with Noah has caused me to consider how I'm nurturing creativity in my children, and how creativity develops in adults. Noah has the gift of dyslexia. Dyslexia is a certain way people's brains are wired that allow them to think and perceive differently. There are some "negative" challenges like reading and spelling, but often this natural gift is positively expressed in powerful creativity, innovation and insight. They are highly aware of their environment, more curious than average, think in pictures instead of words and have vivid imaginations (from the book The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald Davis). Do any of these basic dyslexic abilities sound familiar to designers? They should. In an excellent article on ADHD by Justin Genovese at Speak Up, he makes a strong case for the link between designers, ADHD and creativity. I think what is often diagnosed as ADHD could be a form of dyslexia. Regardless, both ADHD and dyslexia are God given gifts that when nurtured and developed produce incredible creativity. Alexander Graham Bell, Leonardo da Vinci, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford and General George Patton are all famous dyslexics.

So, how do we nurture creativity in our children (and ourselves for that matter)? I'm going to take a stab at several suggestions. As long as you understand I want to do these things with my kids but often times don't, I won't feel like a hypocrite. Here they are:

Time: Give you kids a lot of time. Time to do anything. Time to do nothing. Time on their own. Time with others. Unguided time. Unprogrammed time. Truly free time with no constraints, expectations, homework or deadlines. This is one of the reasons we have chosen to homeschool our children. When I was in school, I never had any time.

Curiosity: Let them ask questions and don't provide all the answers. Let them touch things, do things, and see things that interest them. O.k., mom's don't panic here—let them be unsafe sometimes. All we parents need to do is stop the car and look or put the book down and listen. We may find ourselves becoming more curious too. Curiosity is another reason we homeschool. Traditional schools tend to stifle curiosity in order to get everyone through the system on a schedule. Ever wanted to yell at the guy in your grade school class who kept asking the teacher one question after another? See what I mean?

Experiences: Take them on field trips. Take them for walks. To the museum. To the creek. To the nursing home. To the homeless. Let them experience real life with you. I once read about a National Geographic photographer who traveled the world and took his children with him wherever he went. Talk about educational life experiences!

You may have your own ways to encourage creativity in your children and yourselves? What are they? We'd like to hear them. Give us the poop.