Imagination and Creativity

We've been celebrating imagination and creativity for the last two weeks in the library. I've read a variety of books about imagination to the classes depending on their grade level including Not a Box by Antoinette Portis, The Red Chalk by Iris van der Heide, Orson Blasts Off by Raul Colon and Roxaboxen by Alice MacLerran. We talked about how you can never be bored if you have an imagination and how we can easily do without fancy toys and the newest video games if we learn to create our own worlds in which to play.

The following week we moved on to creativity and read many books including The Dot and Ish by Peter Reynolds, How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird by Jacques Prevert and I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont. We talked about the creative process and how there is no "right" process for drawing a picture or writing a poem. We also recognized how the hardest part of being creative is often the first step. The blank page can be frightening and we talked about how to make it less scary. Ask your children what the first step in the creative process is.

Grades 3-5 also got a lesson on using OPAC, which is our cataloging system. It was a first lesson for some and a refresher for others. We will cover this lesson each year so that the kids can go off to Junior High with the ability to be self sufficient in the library.

Have a great week!