Creativity Hack: think out loud!
We all feel nervous when tasked with coming up with an original piece of work. And what’s more? Sometimes, things go wrong for us adults too.
At 100 Story Building, we don’t try to mask our own nervousness or mistakes. Instead, we share our feelings with children by thinking out loud. And we invite them to help us overcome them.
As our creative expert Laura shares:
‘Instead of trying to suppress my feelings of nervousness or insecurity, I use them as my secret superpower to connect with the children and young people I work with. When I am drawing on the board, I verbalise my internal monologue to show them in real time how I am feeling:
“Oops! I drew that tiger a bit weirdly and now it’s back is lumpy. That’s making me a bit nervous because it’s not perfect. But it’s okay because everyone makes mistakes! I’m going to challenge myself to turn the lumpiness into something really cool. What is some way I could do that?”
The students’ ideas are always amazing. Maybe the tiger’s lumpy back is because she is hiding something beneath her fur (like secret magical coins). Or, it is a wound from some previous battle with the villain of the story that might totally change his motivation!
Modelling my nervousness and fear and then showing how I can work through it shows children how they can use self-talk to get them through those moments of self-doubt and inner criticism.’
Sharing your inner monologue helps model to your child that everyone comes up against creative blocks (it’s part of the process!) and gives your child the power to help you – the adult – overcome those blocks.
So next time things go wrong in front of your children or students, don’t cover up your thoughts. Share them, and help children see how you overcome them. And tell us what happened next in an email at info@100storybuilding.org.au.
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